The Formula
by EtherealMoonShine
Summary: After successfully convincing Roy to take him on one date, can Ed win Roy's heart and help him achieve his dream of becoming Fuhrer? Rated M for Ed's foul mouth and eventual RoyxEd RED . Chapter 6 Now up!
1. The Formula

A conversation with a friend gave the idea for this. He was telling me about a 'formula' used to calculate the oldest age of a person you can date based on the age you are.. and when Roy tells him this, Ed will do anything to get around the formula ( (your age/2) + 7 )

A note about the timeline: This deviates from the anime, it's not a bad ending, but for the purpose of the story Roy and Ed need to be in the same universe. Ed and Al get themselves back to normal and move to live in Central where Ed continues to work for the military and Al tries to find a job. The homunculi were defeated; however Furher Bradley is still in charge of the country. Roy Mustang has been promoted to General so that Bradley can keep better control over him, and still aims to overthrow the existing order. Ed has developed a crush on his General, and the story begins when Ed decides to ask Roy out.

* * *

'I told you Fullmetal, you're too young for me!' Roy Mustang, Flame Alchemist and now General in the Amestris military protested, pushing his chair backwards as he stood, towering behind his desk and over the Fullmetal alchemist, hoping to intimidate him into submission. However this move only proved to infuriate the already irate blonde.

'Don't talk down to me and don't treat me like a child! I'm not! I want this and I want you and I don't give a damn about the age difference!' the blonde fumed, rather loudly. Roy sighed. He bet the whole office, if not the whole building, could hear the blondes ranting. He was going to get it in the neck for this later...

This whole mess had started when Fullmetal had stormed into Roy's office like he owned the place, slammed his hands down onto Roy's desk, and demanded, in true Ed style, that Roy should take him on a date. Roy had been shocked, thinking maybe this was some kind of joke, a dare or something. Yes, kids still played dares didn't they? Of course, Ed had scoffed at that suggestion, then insisted that he was serious, claiming that Roy was all he could think about.

Roy knew how he felt. Sometimes he couldn't get Edward off his mind, and for all the wrong reasons. The brat was loud, annoying, broke his office door on countless occasions, ranted at him, called him a bastard and cost his unit thousands of cens of collateral damage a year. The kid was a headache at the best of times, at worst, a migraine. And now he was demanding a date? Roy would give Edward some credit, he was fast becoming an attractive young man, however, his youth, as usual, put him at a disadvantage here. Roy would lose his job if anyone ever found out, and that was the mildest sentence. If the Furher was in a foul mood, he could lose his head, and knowing the Furher's attitude towards him lately, heads would roll. A polite rejection before Ed fell too deep was the best course of action. Predictably, Edward wasn't having any of it. So Roy changed tactics. He wasn't a General for nothing.

'I can't help but talk down to someone of your size' Roy smirked. He had Ed right where he wanted him now. A good rant would completely distract the blonde from the topic at hand. Roy felt that after this, he could use some normality. A ranting Edward was familiar, he could deal with that. An Edward going through puberty and obviously horny was something he just couldn't deal with, despite remembering clearly the days of his youth, no matter how much he wished he could forget.

His plan backfired. Edward it seemed was having none of the distraction tactic either. This topic was obviously more important.

'That's not the point!' Ed all but whined now. 'Why should it matter how old you are? I can't help being attracted to you...and don't try to tell me you have someone else either, because I know you don't you bastard… and don't call me short!'

Roy groaned and wondered how Edward had managed to cram that much into one sentence, and also how the blonde knew of his single status. Havoc and the others were going to get it in the neck for gossiping about his personal life in the office. The little blonde was beginning to really grate on his nerves now. It was obvious that Fullmetal's attraction to him was anything but mature; after all, boys were attracted to anything at that age, particularly those who were seen as accessible. The biggest regrets of his life happened during his teenage years when a crush on his best friend ended in a broken heart. He ran a stressed gloved hand through his hair as he tried to think of a way to let Edward down gently. A different tactic sprang to mind, one that he hadn't used in years. It had worked on those high school girls who were crushing after him back at East city, and Edward wasn't that much different to a high school girl, with his gorgeous blonde hair and sparkling honest eyes and... Roy shook his head to clear it. He HAD to turn Edward down, there was no way anyone would ever accept the two of them together. It was his responsibility as Edward's commanding officer and the older of the two to end this before it began.

'Flattered as I am, Edward, I'm afraid there are with dating, as with alchemy, certain widely accepted laws, in particular some very clear ones about age. It is not my age being the problem here. It's yours, you are too young' Roy held up his hand to stop the blonde from butting in. Edward was clearly on the verge of another 'I'm not young, I'm very mature and I've seen more horrors than most adults I know' rant. Perhaps approaching this from something Edward understood, formulas and laws, he would get some peace and quiet. 'I'm well aware of your maturity Ed, however, there is a formula regarding acceptable age boundaries: you divide your age by two and then add seven. I'm twenty nine years old. I'm sure a prodigy like you can figure that out.'

Edward had an adorable look of concentration on his face, as he appeared to ponder what Roy was saying. Roy knew Edward was smart. He would figure this out and move on. The last thing Roy wanted was the boy to fall in love with him. It was easier to tell Edward where he stood on the matter now, before he fell too deep, and he ended up breaking the boy's heart. He'd had enough heartbreak in his short life as it is.

'So... what your saying is that according to this… formula, that you probably just made up to get me off your back, I would have to be twenty-one and a half if I wanted to date you, as opposed to the sixteen and a half that I am now...' Ed muttered

'Yes, that's it. I cannot date anyone under 21, after all, that's the rule.' Roy confirmed confidently.

'Is that the only reason you won't date me?' Ed asked, seemingly curious.

'No' Roy lied, not wanting to give the kid a reason to think he had a hope if he was older. If Edward were older, he didn't think he would have a problem with it. He hoped his lie wasn't reflected in his eyes. Edward looked down mournfully. Roy was beginning to regret this whole conversation. Edward looked absolutely crushed. He was probably thinking there was something wrong with him now, and beating himself up about it. The look on Edwards face told Roy that perhaps Edward already had fallen for him. He opened his mouth to try and salvage what was left of their working relationship when Edward gave a winning grin and spoke.

'I get it now, thank you for enlightening me' Edward said politely, and saluted, heading for the door. After all, Edward Elric wasn't a prodigy for nothing. He had seen the look on Roy's face, and knew that he was lying. After all, when you'd been staring at the same person for most of your teenage years, you can't help but notice these things. So, the only thing Roy Mustang had a problem with was his age huh? Well he could always return when he was twenty seven, then Roy could take his damned formula and shove it up his arse.(1)

* * *

Roy Mustang watched in shocked silence as the door to his office closed quietly. Edward Elric had just been polite to him! Saluted him! Accepted what he was saying without question and even THANKED him! The world as he knew it was ending. He checked outside his window just to make sure it wasn't. After all, the world couldn't end now. He had goals to achieve first.

Edward Elric was being the perfect subordinate! How wonderful! However Roy's thoughts quickly grew serious. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, despite his jubilation, was a voice that said this just wasn't right. Edward Elric was never the perfect subordinate. Therefore something must be terribly wrong with the blonde, and Roy had no doubts whatsoever that this had everything to do with him.

A sharp knock on the door brought Roy back to his senses and to the mountain of incomplete paperwork on his desk. If that was Hawkeye, he was dead. Still, perhaps he could use Edwards's interruption as an excuse for his lack of progress.

* * *

(1) When Edward is twenty seven, Roy will be forty, and by then according to Roy's own formula Edward will be able to date Roy. 40/2 +7 27

Please Review!


	2. Of Research and Double Dates

Authors note: This time I will remember to add a disclaimer! I was so excited to finally post something that I forgot. Anyway from here on the chapters get longer (around twice as long actually, the first chapter started as a one shot, then I got carried away) and the updates will try to be around once a week. As I write this I'm sitting in a wonderful coastal location overlooking the beach and sea. The weather is fantastic and very inspirational Anyway, onto chapter 2, which I would like to dedicate to my first reviewer, heavensangelQ! Thank you for your support

Disclaimer: I really wish I owned Fullmetal Alchemist. It genuinely is the most amazing series I've ever seen. Unfortunately, unless I win a huge amount of money any time soon and buy the rights, I'm poor, and can't afford to own even as much merchandise as I want to. This is a fan created fiction, and I own nothing!

* * *

It had been two days. Two days since Edward had decided to play Roy at his stupid game and wait until he was twenty seven to approach the man again. Only so far, these two days had been absolute hell. He had to work with the man everyday, and just seeing him made his stomach turn. It wasn't fair! He didn't ask to feel like this! At first he'd figured it was only hormones, after all, he had read in books about being a teenager, and this was what growing up was about. However, Edward had, as far as he was concerned, already had his fair share of random crushes, and this felt different. Roy was... something else.

Edward Elric was not a patient person at the best of times, but when a problem presented itself, he could have the patience of a saint. Research! Yes… perhaps there was a way he could MAKE himself 22 years old, then, he mused; he would cut out the part that required waiting. After all, he wanted Roy now! His resolve renewed, he stood, mumbled excuses to Hawkeye, and dashed out of the office before anyone could so much as begin to protest. Reaching the library, Ed pushed his way inside. Technically, making himself older was human transmutation, and he would need the restricted section of the library for that, and special clearance from his commanding officer to even LOOK there. Edward scolded himself for forgetting this, and let his head bang against a bookshelf. Now what was he going to do?

* * *

Alphonse Elric was beginning to think there was something terribly wrong with his elder brother Edward. They'd got their bodies back now, and could enjoy the life they worked so hard to gain, and yet in Al's opinion, Ed wasn't really living. His brother still oftentimes could be found with his head in an alchemy book, or sneaking out at all hours to the library to research a theory. And it wasn't just work stuff either. His brother was obsessed. Obsessed with alchemy. It was really no wonder he never got any dates. Al sighed gently as he wandered away from the local grocery store, where he had encountered two beautiful young blondes who had agreed to double date himself and his brother. He just hoped it went ok, after all, Ed could be a real handful sometimes, and oftentimes resented it when Al tried to fix him up with anyone. Lately his brother seemed more reclusive than ever, reluctant even to go to work. Yes, Al decided. Ed needed a girlfriend. It would do him good. Perhaps if this date went badly he would invite Winry to stay, after all, she always seemed to cheer up Ed and maybe this time his brother would admit his feelings for her. 'Before I go crazy and tell her that I like her' Al thought grimly. He really didn't want to take his brothers only potential girlfriend away, but he couldn't deny his own feelings for Winry much longer.

* * *

Roy Mustang was jolted awake as his door banged open and fell off the hinges. He made a grab for his pen to pretend to be working and not sleeping, before realising it was just his diminutive blonde torment again.

'Ah, Edward, what can I do for you?' Roy asked, trying to be polite, then realising his mistake, as Ed began to stomp towards his desk.

'A date would be nice, but if you still think I'm too young, then you can just sign this permission slip for me, and I won't bother you anymore' Ed groused. He couldn't believe he was actually asking the bastard for permission to look at books on the very subject that had gotten him stuck with this rotten job in the first place.

'Still too young Edward' Roy muttered, wondering when the blonde was going to give up, shut up, and give him a break. He should have realised then that that was never going to happen considering Edwards persistence. He took the pre-offered slip of paper, and scanned over it, before his eyes widened considerably as he realised what it was Fullmetal was asking. 'You know I don't think this is something I should be authorising...' Roy began, but was interrupted by Ed

'It's not for anything practical! It's just for a bit of background research I'm doing!' Ed protested rolling his eyes in what he hoped looked like annoyance, to cover the fact that he was lying.

'Ah, Edward, I've known you too long I'm afraid' Roy said, seeing straight through Edwards lie, though having no idea what practical implications the blonde hoped to achieve. 'I simply cannot authorise this' Roy noticed the blonde was about to protest, so he quickly added, to finalise the conversation, 'And that is my final word on the matter Fullmetal, if you don't mind I'm very busy'

Roy even looked down to his paperwork and pretended to read it, watching the blonde from the corner of his eyes. Edward was seething now, Roy's abruptness settling heavily on his chest. He grabbed the request, along with some of Roy's paperwork, tore it into tiny pieces, scattered it over Roy's head, and tore off out of the now broken office door, but not before Roy noticed the tears in his eyes threatening to spill. Roy groaned, wondering what he'd done now. It was then that he noticed Hawkeye staring menacingly at him though the now off the hinges door. She looked ready to kill, probably because of the torn up paperwork making confetti over his desk. He would be working late tonight again…

* * *

Edward arrived back at the flat he shared with Al, ready to just curl up and cry. There went that idea, blown away by the very man he wanted so badly, but that no one knew he wanted. He stalked across the room, intent on throwing himself to his bed and wallowing in his own misery for awhile. His plan was thwarted.

'Welcome home brother!' Al chirped from the couch.

'Hey Al' Ed replied, trying to compose himself and control the tears that still threatened to spill, before plonking down on the couch beside Al. At least, Ed mused, his little brother was happy, even if he himself was feeling miserable as sin at the moment. Al could always cheer him up, even when he was at his lowest.

'Good day? Al asked, turning to look at Ed. His brother looked slightly dishevelled, and Al thought it looked like Ed was disturbed by something.

'Bastard was being a bastard again' Ed shrugged, trying to sound like he couldn't care less. 'Wouldn't authorise access to some research materials I wanted'

'Aw too bad' Al sympathised. He really couldn't understand why Ed hadn't quit the military already. After all, all he did was complain about the General all the time. 'Cheer up; I have some news that will make you feel much better!'

Ed groaned. He knew what was coming. Another attempt by Al to set him up with girls he couldn't care less about. Not that they weren't nice girls. In fact, Al only ever dated nice girls. The only problem was his younger brother didn't have a clue that Ed wasn't interested in nice girls; he was much more interested in his male bastard general. 'What now Al? Is this another one of your schemes? I'm really not in the mood ya know' Ed began to protest, wanting nothing more than to be left alone with his thoughts, and to try and find a way to move forward from all this.

'Brother you're never in the mood!' Al retorted. 'We're going to a lovely restaurant as a double date. They're sisters, both blonde, both beautiful, and we are going to enjoy ourselves! I'm sure you'll love them! Lizzie is really interested in alchemy, and Beth is a wonderful cook so I'm told! You deserve a break from your research, and I'm sure a nice relaxing date will make you forget all about your problems at work! I'm paying!' Al added, in a last ditch attempt to convince his brother this was a good idea.

Al had a point he supposed… maybe a date would clear his head and help him think of a new strategy for seducing the General. Besides, if Al was paying, and if he knew Al, which he liked to think he did, they would likely be going to the steak house. Yes, this was a good idea. A nice meal in his favourite location with his little brother would do wonders to make him forget Roy, at least for one night. Then in the morning when he felt refreshed, he could think of new ways to tackle the issue of getting a date from Roy. No one was saying he had to LIKE the girls they were going with.

'Ok, ok, you win Al, I'll go get ready' Ed decided, and watched Al whoop for joy at getting his anti-social elder sibling out of the flat for the night. Edward skulked off to change, intent on making as little effort as possible so that the girls would be put off at first glance.

* * *

The girl was nice enough. He dated her frequently whenever he needed to take his mind off something. The only problem with her was that she talked too much, wore too much makeup, and had the brainpower of a dead goldfish. Yes, Roy mused, ok maybe there were a lot of things wrong with this particular woman. But truth be told, she had a good pair of breasts and a nice firm arse, and if all went well, it would be another fine evening. She would talk, and he would pretend to listen whilst taking in the eye candy and hoping that he would get laid tonight. Yes, a perfect ending, even if it meant that he had to endure the torture of spending the evening in her not so pleasant company to get what he wanted. After all, a meaningless fling was the perfect way to take his mind off the young blonde demanding even more attention than usual. Roy's mind began to wander, as she began to talk about the latest fashions in Central. Roy glanced around the restaurant in search of a waiter. He needed something stronger than white wine if he was going to get through this evening.

* * *

At the other side of the restaurant, a disgruntled short blonde teenager reluctantly followed his younger brother across the crowded restaurant, dressed, much to his despair, in some of Al's finer going out clothes. He wore a shirt that was the same colour red as his usual cloak, the top two buttons left open, in a look Al had insisted was 'sexy,' and loose black jeans that were a little tight at the back. He wondered where his brother had got the idea that this sort of thing looked good. All Ed felt was self conscious. He tugged at the hem of his shirt again nervously, as the waiter took their coats, and smiled shyly as two beautiful blondes approached the pair. As much as he hated to admit it, Alphonse had impeccable taste, even if his efforts were completely in vain.

'This must be your brother' one of the girls smiled. 'I'm Lizzie' she said holding out her hand for Ed to kiss.

'Edward' Ed acknowledged her, taking her hand and shaking it, deciding to at least be polite. She looked a little surprised, before covering this with a smile. Alphonse groaned silently, shaking his head at his socially inept elder brother, before introducing the girl who was now on his arm as Beth. The waiter led them to a table on the left hand side of the restaurant, on a raised area far from the door. It was a secluded area that allowed them to view the rest of the brightly lit green and blue hues of the restaurant easily, without feeling too overlooked. Al nodded his approval to the waiter, and Ed noted that his brother must have brought dates here before. Normally when the two came alone they would sit in a secluded booth so they could talk freely without disturbing the other patrons. Edward moved to sit next to his brother, but Al coughed and gestured discreetly that his brother should sit next to Lizzie. Ed grumbled, and moved to the other side of the table, slumping down in his seat, ignoring that Lizzie was waiting for him to pull her chair out. Al made a sympathetic face, before pulling out Beth's chair for her, and then sitting down. The waiter came over to take the drinks order, and left them with the menu to make there choices.

* * *

'Well' Al addressed the table. 'What is everyone having?'

'I'll be having the salad' Lizzie said, sharing a glance with her sister. 'I'm on a diet' she explained. Ed scoffed into his hand. It was fine to be on a diet, but when you were out with friends, things like diets could and should be ignored. Al noticed his brothers disdain, and kicked him hard in the shin under the table, thankful that his brother no longer had an automail leg. He saw Ed wince, and shrug his shoulders, as if to say, 'What?'

'I'll have the salad too' Beth told Al, following the lead of her sister. Al smiled sweetly, before turning to Ed.

'I take it your having the steak, brother' Al asked, and Ed smiled for the first time that evening. The thought of steak almost made him drool.

'Of course!' Ed exclaimed happily. 'Do they still do the 15oz fillet?'

Al groaned inwardly. Trust Ed to pick the most expensive thing on the menu. This was his punishment for trying to help his brother. Still, if he hadn't offered to pay, chances were Ed would still be at home moping, or in the library, reclusive as ever.

'Yes,' Al replied, 'they still do the 15oz. I think I'll have the 8oz steak myself' Al signalled the waiter and related their order, before turning to Beth and smiling. 'I hope this will be as good as you're both used to at home'

'Beth's cooking is wonderful, but I'm sure this place will be good too' Lizzie smiled

'Of course it will be good!' Ed interjected; taking insult in Lizzie's words 'This is one of the best eateries in town!'

Al was already feeling embarrassed by his brother. He was beginning to remember why he didn't like Ed to meet his dates.

Beth laughed. Edward was an amusing person, she decided. 'I take it you two come here often then?' she asked. Al opened his mouth to answer, but Ed beat him to it.

'All the time' Ed answered 'but that's only because Alphonse doesn't know how to boil an egg, let alone cook a meal!'

Beth was laughing. At his expense. Al smiled sheepishly. He didn't know his brother would embarrass him like this. It was bad enough he was making an idiot out of himself.

'Cooking is easy!' Beth said, smiling 'You just need to follow the recipe'

Ed nodded, agreeing. 'Its just like alchemy really, formulas, ingredients, then mix it altogether'

'Your brother says you're a fairly good alchemist' Lizzie stated, taking a sip of water, and beginning to warm up to Edward now he was acting a little more friendly.

Ed nodded, sipping his juice before launching into a complicated explanation of alchemy, not used to talking to people who did not understand the basic concepts of the science.

* * *

Roy couldn't believe what he was seeing. Edward Elric was on the opposite side of the restaurant, talking quite animatedly to a young blonde girl. Well that was better, Roy decided. It looked like Edward had finally taken the hint. It was then Roy spotted Alphonse and that led him immediately to think that this was his idea, particularly with the state Ed had left his office in earlier. He stared a little longer, deciding that watching Edward was a little more interesting than watching and pretending to listen to his date talking more garbage. Ed was dressed differently, and this surprised Roy. The girl must have been pretty special for Ed to make that much effort, particularly when Roy only ever saw him wearing one outfit. Ed was wearing a red shirt that complimented his hair and eyes perfectly and he had left those tight leather pants at home for once, in favour of something that had to be more comfortable. He couldn't take his eyes off the blonde, and found himself wondering what it would be like to run his fingers through those gorgeous locks. His thoughts were interrupted before he could criticise himself, as the waiter arrived with their food. He took one last longing look at the blonde before pulling himself back to his date. After all, tonight he was supposed to be forgetting about Ed, despite wondering how it would feel if he was the one sitting next to Ed instead of the blonde girl.

* * *

Al groaned, and watched as the girls started by listening intently, and then rapidly got lost in his brothers technical ramble. Lizzie had a glazed look, and Beth was glancing at Al pleadingly, begging him to change the subject. Luckily, the food arrived, and this was more than enough to keep Ed from talking for awhile, giving Al time to make polite conversation with his date while his brother inhaled his food. Lizzie was making a great effort to hide her disgust at Edwards eating habits, and Al, irritated by the way the evening was going, gave Ed another hard kick in the shin. Ed growled, and made a move to kick Al back, but missed, and instead hit Beth in the leg. She yelled, and Al glared at Ed, but saw that his brother had already returned to eating his meal, completely oblivious. Ed looked up grinning and Al prepared to glare at his brother and reprimand him publicly for his behaviour, but saw Ed's grin noticeably falter as Ed appeared to notice something behind him on the other side of the restaurant. Ed growled low in his throat as he watched Roy Mustang with a stupid tart at the other side of the restaurant as he paid for the bill. The girl put her arm through his as they left the restaurant, Roy grinning stupidly. Ed heard Al ask if he wanted dessert, but he felt himself loosing his appetite rapidly. He stood abruptly, knocking his chair back and Lizzie's glass of water over her. She swore, finally fed up with Ed's behaviour, and turned to scream at him, but he was already stalking off quickly towards the entrance. Roy was with someone else... some stupid tart, some stupid women, some pretty… sexy women, and not with him. Frustrated with himself, Ed realised he was crying, having finally given in to the tears that had threatened all day. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, frustrated and angry. This was not worth it dammit! He was Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist, and he most certainly did not cry over Roy Mustang. Ed scowled as he stalked down the streets, trying to quiet his sobbing, and convince his heart that it wasn't broken in two.

* * *

Thank you for all the reviews so far, please continue to support this work of fiction by reviewing Chapter 2! Next update will probably be some time next week now that the chapters are getting longer!


	3. Changing Schedules and Dating Disasters

Everyone hates Roy and his serial dating! Serves him right, he should be with poor Ed anyway…Reviews make me so happy, as do cookies I'd like to thank all my reviewers for continuing to support this story either by reviewing or adding it to story alert! Anyway, this time, Roy gets a taste of karma, Al gets worried, and Ed tries to cope.

Disclaimer: Well, my plan to win lots of money failed, so I'm currently working on taking over the world instead so then I can own everything grins Until then, I still own nothing but merchandise!

* * *

Roy Mustang was not amused. Last night had taken a horrific turn for the worst. His date had accused him of paying her no attention.

'You were staring at that young blonde in the corner all evening. You weren't paying any attention to me at all. If you can't treat me properly, I don't want to see you again Roy' she had sobbed, before fleeing into the darkness.

Great. And all because he couldn't keep his eyes to himself and off a rather stunning Edward Elric. Rats. He wasn't supposed to think like this. He wouldn't think like this. This was Edward for crying out loud! He was nothing but a torment! It was all Edwards… no… Fullmetals fault, he decided, for being so damned adorable. Yes, the blonde would suffer for this. He grumbled to himself as Hawkeye gave him a troubled look, before delivering him his doom.

* * *

Alphonse Elric wanted to kill Edward Elric. After apologising profusely to Lizzie, and then to Beth over his brothers appalling behaviour, the girls had decided it was best to call it a night. Lizzie was furious, and he doubted Beth would want to see him again after this. He was left with the bill and, after paying, began the walk home fully intent on wringing his brother's neck. Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you wanted to look at it, his brother wasn't there when he arrived. That was ok, Al could wait. So he had waited, and waited, and waited. When it got to 2am and Ed still hadn't showed up, Al began to worry, the urge to throttle Ed fading. He debated going out and looking for his brother, but then realised that Edward had probably skulked off to the library. Yawning, and deciding he had had enough of this stressful evening, Al decided to go to bed. He'd kill Edward in the morning.

* * *

Edward Elric scowled as he made his way towards the office. He had spent the evening trying to come to terms with his feelings, and was now feeling completely awful for messing up Als evening. He was also cramped from falling asleep at a desk in a secluded section of the library. He hadn't dared to go home to clean himself up before going to work. He would apologise to Al later, when he had cooled down a little. Ed's hair was a mess, his eyes were red rimmed, and he was still dressed the way he was last night. Still, at least now he had a plan, and perhaps that plan would make his life a little more bearable. Then, after dealing with that, he would beg Als forgiveness, and get him to find him another date, resigned to the fact that Roy Mustang would never, could never want someone like him. Continuing to beat himself up, he stalked into the office, head down, and eyes hidden by his bangs. Hawkeye was the only one in the office this early.

'Edward, you look awful' Hawkeye commented, and watched as Ed lifted his face to reveal his sorrow.

'Hey' Ed muttered 'Listen, Lieutenant Can I ask you something?'

'Sure Edward' Riza replied, still not over not only Edwards state, but the fact that he had arrived at work at 7am. Edward was never early, and rarely expressed an aura of such sorrow, at least never in public.

'I've...been having trouble sleeping at night lately, so I wanted to ask if I could work at night instead for a bit to see if I can sleep better during the day' Edward said, hoping that she believed his well rehearsed excuse. He had worked it over in his head all last night, and had come to the conclusion that it may be easier if he saw as little of Roy Mustang as possible.

Hawkeye seemed to think this over for a moment, and then nodded. 'From the look of you Edward, I can see that this may be a good idea. How about instead of working from 10 until 5, you come into work at 5 and leave at midnight? she offered

Edward contemplated this for a moment. It was unlikely that the colonel even worked until 5 if he could help it. That would mean he would hardly see the man at all. It felt… painful. But it had to be done. Ed nodded and saluted for good measure. 'Thank you Lieutenant'

'Now I suggest you go home and get some rest Edward, I'll still be here at 5, so I can assign you some work to do. I'll also inform the General of the situation.' Riza advised. She assumed this must be part of growing up. She'd often read of teenagers hitting puberty and finding it difficult to operate during the day. Her brother, as a teenager, would lie in bed until 3 am some days and would scream and yell at cry at the littlest of things. She would give Edward some slack. After all, with the amount of fighting Edward and the General had been doing lately, the office would quieten down a little without the two going head to head. She shook her head as she watched Edward walk off, and began to wonder if there was something deeper to Edwards request.

* * *

Edward hoped he would get lucky, and get home before Alphonse woke up. It was, after all still early, barely 8am when he made it back to their shared apartment. Ed pushed the door open tentatively, and, when nothing was thrown in the vicinity of his head, snuck into the room. He thought of going straight to bed and sleeping off whatever it was he was feeling, but hunger took over, and propelled him towards the kitchen, the fridge, and he would soon find out, his doom.

'You finally came home then!' Al groused, tapping his foot on the floor, arms crossed, much like their mother used to do when they were in trouble. At the moment Ed felt very much like the younger brother.

'I...' Ed was silent for a moment, trying to think of an excuse. He hadn't planned on having to deal with Alphonse this early in the morning. Al meanwhile was taking in Ed's appearance.

'Brother, you look awful, what happened?' Al said, deciding to go for a direct interrogation.

Ed thought of saying that he had been up all night because of a crush on his General, then decided against it. He really didn't need this right now. Maybe he would tell Al later, after he had calmed himself down and got a few hours of decent sleep.

'I'm sorry Al, I'm sorry for everything, for ruining your date, and for worrying you.' Ed said, thinking this was the safest route. 'I'm really tired Al, I had a horrific day at work yesterday, then a terrible evening. I have the late shift tonight, so can you wake me up at 4?'

Al seemed to consider this for a moment. There was something Edward was hiding from him, and he would find out what. But looking at the state of his brother, now really wasn't the time. Ed looked like he hadn't slept, and being a good brother; Al wasn't going to deprive him. Sighing, he gave in.

'Don't worry about it brother, I'm sure I can find other girls willing to date me. Get some sleep; you look like you need it. Set your alarm though, I have a job interview with the academy at 4, so I won't be around to wake you up.'

'Thanks Al' Ed mumbled, and he looked really grateful. 'Good luck with the interview'

Al watched as Edward sloped off to his room, and wondered just what it was that was wrong with his brother.

* * *

It was now the fourth day after the restaurant, and Roy Mustang still hadn't seen Edward at the office. Honestly, what was the point of maintenance fixing his door if there was no one around to kick it down again? He wondered just how long this little experiment of Hawkeye's was going to take. He couldn't believe she cut the kid some slack... She never cut HIM any slack when he was almost dead to the world. Usually hung over of course, not... whatever Edward was suffering from. Belatedly, Roy thought, Ed was legally no longer a child at 16. Hell technically the kid had given up on any hope of a childhood when he had joined the military. Cursing himself for thinking about it again, Roy mused that now that Edward was no longer around the office he was actually beginning to miss the brat. Things had gotten a little boring as of late. The paperwork just kept on coming, no matter how hard he tried to get rid of it. That included passing it off to his other subordinates or hiding the ashes in the flowerpot in his office of course, not actually doing the work. Things had also gotten a little stormy on the dating front. Unfortunately, the women he had taken to the restaurant, Claire, knew a few of the other women he dated, and had spread it around that Roy Mustang liked them young. Not a good rumour to have floating around, particularly when most of the women in his little black book were older and were now no longer interested in him, and particularly when he had turned Edward Elric down because he was young. He had come to the conclusion that fateful night that, while Edward was very good looking, (he had finally managed to admit that to himself), he was probably just that. If they went on a date, they would have nothing in common, nothing to talk about, and Roy would resort to treating him the same way he treated his women: like cheap whores. That was the last thing he wanted to do to Edward, after all, they had to work together. Or… used to have to work together.

Roy groaned loudly as Hawkeye came in with another stack of paperwork. He hadn't even started on the last lot yet.

'Where does it all come from?' he murmured forlornly as he thought a fitting end to today would see him drowning in paperwork.

'Perhaps, sir, if you actually did some work for once, rather than sitting there daydreaming, you wouldn't be as far behind as you are now' Hawkeye offered, unsympathetically. Really, Roy Mustang was sometimes the laziest man alive. It was no wonder nothing ever came from all his dating. The man just didn't have the commitment to forge a lifelong relationship. 'These need to be done by 5 sir' she saluted before leaving the room. Yes, she thought, Roy Mustang was one man she would definitely be staying away from.

Finally, at a quarter to five, Mustang grinned triumphantly, threw his pen up in the air, and cheered. 'All done!' he yelled, grabbing his coat and practically skipping out of his office. He had finally managed to score himself a date for tonight, albeit a reluctant one. Still, a date was a date, and it was just what he needed after today. His grin turned into a grimace as Hawkeye rounded on him.

'I'm sorry sir, but this just came in and needs your immediate attention' she said, motioning to a mountain of paperwork in her arms.

'Well, Fullmetal is here tonight, he can deal with it' Roy grinned, thankful for once to the little blonde, and heading towards the door.

'Sir, these are for your eyes only, and need YOUR signature. Edward doesn't have the authority to deal with this' Hawkeye persisted, blocking his exit.

Roys mind went into overdrive for the first time that day, and quickly formulated a plan. If he could just convince Hawkeye that he was staying, ditch out as soon as she had gone, and get back here after his date and work all night, she would never know the difference. That lot looked like it could be done in 4 hours tops of he really put his mind to it, meaning if his date was over by 11, he would only be in the office until 3am the next day. He would just have to make things quick…Then he could easily take some time off tomorrow for working 'late' tonight. He grinned, and held his hands up to Hawkeye in mock surrender. Putting on the best mask of surrender that he could muster.

'All right, all right, I'm going' he grouched, taking the paperwork from her arms. 'You head on home, I promise it'll all be done by morning'

She seemed hesitant to leave, and he couldn't blame her, so he began to head towards his office, intent on dumping the stuff there and leaving.

'All right, but can you make sure Edward gets this list?' She said, handing him a list of documents that needed doing that night.

'Sure' Roy replied easily. He'd just tape it somewhere low down where he could be sure the diminutive blonde would see it. 'Goodnight Lieutenant' He almost laughed as she returned the greeting and left the room. That was almost too easy. Placing all his paperwork on his desk, and taping the note to the top of Hawkeye's stapler, he turned on his heel and left the room quickly, making sure he left the light on in his office, and potted plant on his chair, to give the illusion from afar that someone was there. Whistling an unknown tune, he headed home to get ready for his date.

* * *

Edward decided he would never get used to working nights. It was too hard to sleep during the day, especially when Al was in the house. His brother had another job interview that evening, this time in a research lab dealing with alchemy. Ed had wished him luck as usual, but deep down couldn't help but think his brother's youth would again be against him. Al had failed three interviews this week because he was simply too young for the work required. Ed knew deep down that this was why he was still in the military. Who else would employ a temperamental teenager with little experience of anything apart from alchemy and no school education? He yawned tiredly, getting ready to leave the house for this evenings shift. Sure, this was physically draining, but at least it wasn't emotionally draining, like seeing the General would be, especially hearing him boast to the whole office about his dates all the time.

Ed left the house and ambled along the sidewalk, reaching headquarters quickly. Glancing up he saw, to his horror, that the Generals office light was still on, and a figure sat in the chair. Ed thought about ditching work tonight, but quickly decided against that. One night with the General wouldn't kill him, but Hawkeye certainly would if she ever found out. He began his march of doom towards the office, and yet, part of him yearned to see Roy again. He stepped into the outer office and closed the door quietly behind him. Looking around he saw a stack of paperwork for him on Hawkeye's desk, and a note stuck to a stapler.

'Edward,

Here is tonight's paperwork, in order of priority.

The top few need to be done first, as they are needed by tomorrow morning.

The next ones are needed by lunchtime, so please attend to those next.

The few towards the bottom are not needed until tomorrow evening so please don't worry if you don't finish it all.

Have a good night, and take care of yourself.

PS: General Mustang has plenty of paperwork to get done tonight, so please make sure he has coffee regularly and doesn't just fall asleep on his paperwork again

First Lieutenant Hawkeye

So, Ed mused, Roy was here to catch up on the paperwork he was too lazy to do during the day. 'Serves him right' Ed thought grinning, before realising that meant that he had to not only spend the night working with the man, but also provide him with coffee. Gathering up his courage, he knocked on the Generals office door and stepped inside, not waiting for an answer, but preparing himself for the worst. He looked towards the desk, and his jaw dropped. A... pot plant? Edward laughed, and let out a sigh of relief. Thank God! Then again the General could have left for a date. Edward shook that thought immediately. It was too painful to think about, and probably true. He went back to the outer office, poured himself some coffee, and sat down to work, to distract him self more than anything. He pondered to himself how he could have let himself get so messed up over one person. With a hefty sigh, Edward decided it was time to take his own advice and move forward.

* * *

His luck had turned on him again it seemed. Ten minutes late, he apologised profusely, before realising who the women was with. Of all the people, it had to be Jean Havoc.

'Hey! Look who finally showed up!' Havoc teased. 'I was just about to take this fine lady to dinner myself!'

'Really, Roy, after all the begging you did this afternoon to get me to come to dinner, you think the least you could do is turn up on time!' Melissa, he believed her name was, groused. 'The reservations for the restaurant will have been given to someone else by now'

'Begging? Oh that's too much!' Havoc laughed 'Since when does the great Roy Mustang beg for dates?'

'Shut up' Roy said 'and what are you doing out here anyway?'

Havoc blushed, saying nothing.

'This poor man was stood up by his date, and quite frankly, I thought I had also been stood up.' Melinda Grumbled. 'He was kind enough to wait with me'

'I really am terribly sorry, Melissa, my car broke down' Roy explained.

'Well its too late now isn't it? I should have listened to those rumours about you. You really don't care about our feelings do you? And my name is not Melissa, it's Melinda!' she complained, and Roy groaned. He had really screwed up this time.

'Erm… ' Havoc interjected carefully, then, noticing the General had left his gloves at home, continued more confidently, 'I know we have only just met, but I feel a connection between us. Melinda, that is, if you don't mind, I made reservations for a restaurant just down the road from here, and I'd be honoured if you would join me this evening'

Roy blanched, Havoc wasn't...

'I'd love to' Melinda replied easily, slipping her arm into Havoc's pre-offered one and glaring at Roy. 'I'm sorry Roy but you're just not what I'm looking for. I want a man who is reliable, honest, and who won't take advantage of me. Please don't bother calling me again'

He was... Jean Havoc had just stolen his date from right under his nose. Roy found himself waving stupidly, before pulling his treacherous hand back into his pocket and skulking back to the office, miserable as sin, and dreading the night ahead of him.

* * *

Reviews are always welcome, they make me smile! I should have the next chapter up in around a week!


	4. Night at the Office

This chapter began as a fairly short chapter, and then turned out longer than the others as I began to read through and make changes. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and added this story to their alerts list! I love reviews! They keep me motivated! Looking back, I'm not so happy with chapter 3, it seemed a little slow. Probably because Ed was avoiding Roy. This chapter has Roy and Ed finally getting to interact a little more! Things will pick up in pace from here, however I'm still not sure how many chapters this will turn out as. I've been having a few problems writing recently with a fairly bad spell of writers block.

Please continue to support his fan fiction!

Disclaimer: Yes, this again. I'm sure one day I will own something fabulous of my own, until then I continue to dabble in other peoples stuff! Fullmetal Alchemist still isn't mine!

* * *

It was a pathetic 8pm when Roy Mustang returned to the office with his tail between his legs, fully intent on wallowing in his own misery for a bit, before burning all that damned paperwork and heading home where a nice full bottle of scotch awaited him. He strode into his office, removed the potted plant, fished in his draw for his gloves, slipped them on, and raised his hand ready to snap.

Edward Elric watched, amused, as his superior officer regarded his paperwork with hatred. He had wondered if Roy was going to show up at some point, and had mentally prepared himself for facing the man he wanted. Remembering Hawkeyes note, he stepped into the office to get Roys attention and stop the pyromaniac from burning his paperwork and earning a one way trip to hell.

'Hawkeye will shoot you between the eyes if you do that' Ed remarked, and was pleased to see Roy jump a mile high, startled, before turning around and realising who was talking.

'Christ Fullmetal, don't sneak up on me like that!' Roy fumed guiltily. Damn, caught in the act.

'WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN HEAR HIS FOOTSTEPS BEHIND YOU COS HES SO SMALL!' Ed yelled on reflex, shooting Roy a dirty look, which was completely ruined by a huge yawn. Roy yawned too, slipping into his chair as he looked around for his pen.

'Lets just leave the fighting for tonight, huh Ed?' Roy offered, still unable to locate his pen. He groaned in frustrated tiredness, 'I think we're both too tired for that'

Ed was stunned for a second. This was new. If they didn't fight, what would they talk about? Ed was now beginning to realise that dating Roy may have been problematic after all, especially if both of them had nothing to say to each other. Tonight could be a good test for that, Ed mused. 'Ok' he replied tiredly, before walking into Roy's office, and bending down to pick up the forgotten pen that Roy had thrown so carelessly to the floor in his haste to leave earlier. 'Here' he offered shyly, and, wanting to say more than that, said 'Do you want me to make some coffee?'

'Please' Roy yawned again, accepting the pen. 'I think if I don't get some soon, I'm going to lose the will to live' Roy joked, selecting the thinnest file carefully from the stack. Edward laughed gently, before leaving the office momentarily. Roy sighed deeply, before resigning himself to his fate and beginning to read through the boring trash Hawkeye deemed important. Ed had a nice laugh, he thought. It was nice to see a side of Edward that wasn't yelling at him. He was surprised the blonde had respected his request, since he had never cared for his superiors feelings much before. Perhaps Ed was just tired too, or perhaps the kids feelings were genuine? Roy derailed that train of thought promptly: it made him feel worse about rejecting the blonde earlier. He tried to focus again on his paperwork, that to be honest, did not look as important as Hawkeye claimed. He half wondered if the blonde women had ulterior motives for making him work late tonight. Surely she didn't know about Eds half-arsed attempts at trying to get a date from him? Then again, the women was horribly perceptive at times, indeed this was why she was a valued member of Roy's team. Perhaps Ed had told her and they had planned this evening together. Still, they couldn't have caused his car to break down could they? Perhaps he was just being paranoid. He hadn't seen Edward in a few days anyway, and had come to the conclusion he was being avoided. Not that he cared. Really.

With a sigh, Roy grabbed at the office phone and began to dial a number on a scrap of paper he retrieved out of his uniform pocket. He still needed a way to prove that he didn't like them young, and perhaps this women, he checked the paper, Vivian, hadn't yet heard any of the rumours flying around. He hadn't called her before because she had seemed older than the usual women he went for. However older was now what he needed.

She answered the phone after 3 rings, her voice melodious, but not quite as mellow as a certain blonde alchemist. Roy shook his head. Now was definitely not the time.

'Hello, Vivian speaking'

'Hello this is Roy Mustang, we met awhile ago in The Lady of the Lake, I was just calling to see if you would be interested in going out to dinner with me' Roy put on all the charm he could muster, even though it felt completely empty. Sometimes he thought Maes was right. Perhaps he should settle down, and find a relationship with a little more meaning.

'Ah, I remember' she mused, 'The military General. Though you do seem rather young to be a General'

Roy was slightly miffed. He couldn't help but be young and talented! 'Yes, I happen to be thirty next year. I can assure you that I'm very talented, and that talent is reflected in my rank'

'Twenty-nine' she murmured, sounding a little shocked 'So young…'

'So I'll pick you up at seven then? Tomorrow?' Roy continued, obliviously

'I'm afraid that won't be possible' she replied, then sighed. 'I'm 48 years old, and according to the formula of dating, you're too young for me. I'm sorry Roy, Goodbye'

Roy stared at the phone stupidly, listening to the dial tone which indicated that she had hung up on him. He groaned and hung up the phone, burying his head in his hands, hunched over his desk, having his own personal pity party. The words 'too young' kept ringing in his head, and he couldn't stop himself from thinking what a ridiculous reason that was to not go on a date with someone. He felt so dejected that he failed to make the connection between the way he had been rejected and the way he had rejected Ed. All he felt at that moment was that it was a cruel thing to say to someone who had made the effort to ask her out.

* * *

Edward was in turmoil. Roy was sitting in the next room, had joked with him, asked him not to fight and was sitting behind his desk looking drop dead gorgeous, even if he did look tired. Ed wondered if he asked again nicely Roy might reconsider dating him. Deciding it couldn't hurt to try, Ed tucked his own paperwork under his arm and brought it into the Generals office whilst the coffee brewed. After all, it would be a cold day in hell when someone could call Edward Elric a defeatist.

Roy looked up from his arms as Ed entered the room and looked at him curiously. Ed thought he looked like a kicked puppy, even more so then he had earlier when he had entered the room. He looked so vulnerable and helpless, as if the life he knew was falling apart. Ed knew how that felt. He felt that way when Roy had crushed him with that formula idea. Roy tilted his head to the side as if to question why his subordinate was bringing his paperwork into Roy's office. Ed shrugged.

'Since we're both in this together, I thought we may as well be in the same room' Ed explained, carefully placing his own paperwork on a free spot on Roy's desk and trying to formulate a new plan to get the man to agree to a date.

'Ah, ok.' Roy replied, really not knowing what else to say. He supposing having Edward around might make his paperwork a little less dull and give him a distraction from moping about his increasingly poor social life. He watched as Ed left the room again, presumably for the coffee, and shook his head. What was he supposed to say to the blonde anyway? He had never really been alone with Ed like this before. Normally his other subordinates were around, and even then all he could manage was to rile Ed up. He ran his fingers roughly through his hair, exasperated, and really wished he was at home with his bottle of scotch. At this moment in time he was glad for rejecting Edwards advances: this silence between them was awkward.

Ed returned, balancing two coffee mugs on a tray, and carrying a bottle in his free hand. He placed everything on Roys desk, before pulling up a chair and making himself comfortable. He nodded to the bottle, and Roy picked it up to inspect it. It was a bottle of scotch. Brilliant! It was almost as if Ed had read his mind! Roy perked up considerably, his self pity fading and his feelings for the blonde going from resentful to grateful.

'Where did you get this Edward?' Roy asked smiling a genuine smile towards the blonde as he unscrewed the bottle and poured some into his coffee.

'Confiscated it from under Bredas desk' Ed replied, shrugging dismissively when inside he was enthralled by the genuine smile gracing the older mans face. He had never seen the General smile like that before. It was stunning! He added, with a smile of his own, 'I thought you might like it'

'I am eternally in your debt' Roy joked, half serious, half wondering if Ed would ask him for a date as reward.

'Good, so how about that date?' Ed quipped, half joking, half serious as he scribbled his way through more paperwork. Roy decided to let that hang for a moment, taking his pen and beginning to work himself. Dates were a touchy subject right now. He didn't fancy going on a date with Ed. Why bother? It would all end in tears anyway, the way things were going lately. He finished his coffee and poured himself some more scotch, downing it in one gulp, again feeling like a loser.

'I don't want to talk about dates right now' Roy grumbled, opting instead to drink the scotch out of the bottle. He was still bitter about losing his date to Havoc. Havoc of all people…

'Why? Bad night?' Ed prodded, not about to let the topic drop. If Roy had had a bad date that night, it could turn out brilliantly for him.

'If you must know, Havoc intercepted my date tonight and whisked her off before I had the chance to stop him' Roy deadpanned, and Ed assumed he was joking, so began to laugh. 'I'm serious' Roy continued, finding it nice to have someone to offload his problems onto. 'I've had nothing but bad luck with women since you asked me out!'

'Bad luck? It didn't seem like you were having bad luck in the restaurant the other night' Ed commented, a lot calmer than he felt. He had felt terrible after that particular night. He sipped some more of his coffee to calm his nerves, and waited for Roy's answer to that one.

Roy suddenly found his coffee cup rather interesting. That night was the start of all his problems. 'I'd rather not talk about it' he said, more to his now empty cup than to Edward.

'That bad huh? Ed murmured, completing some more paperwork and finishing his own coffee and half wondering if he should have some scotch himself. Perhaps not… Roy was clutching that bottle like a drowning man clutches a lifebelt after his ship capsizes.

'Yes, that bad.' Roy mumbled, reflecting on the past few days as he took another gulp of scotch. 'You didn't seem to be doing too badly though.' Roy mentioned, trying to switch the conversation away from him and onto Ed. After all, it looked like the blonde had fared much better than he had in the restaurant.

'I don't want to talk about that!' Ed groaned, burying his face in his hands in embarrassment.

'Can't be that bad...' Roy coaxed. To him, it seemed Edward was doing fine, hell better than Roy himself was. Ed had had both girls listening to him and ignoring Al.

'Yes, it was.' Ed groaned. 'Those girls were empty headed. They knew nothing about alchemy and were bored by me! Then I kicked Al's date in the shin when I was aiming for Al and split water all over the girl he fixed me up with! I only went because Al offered free food! I still don't think he's forgiven me for messing up the entire night!'

Roy snickered trying to contain himself. He couldn't, and seconds later gave in to laughter. He couldn't help himself, perhaps because by now he had downed half a bottle of scotch, and perhaps because a part of him was relieved that Edward hadn't really enjoyed that girls company. When he had calmed down somewhat, he noticed Edward was glaring at him. He felt the need to fill the silence.

'So that's what it would be like if I took you out on a date.' Roy mused. It certainly sounded a lot more exciting than most of the dates he went on.

Edward was blushing with embarrassment now, and began to protest. 'No, no, no, it wouldn't be like that!' he insisted hotly shaking his head in denial. 'Take me out! Give me one chance and I'll prove it!' Ed pleaded, terrified now that he'd scared the man off for good.

'Alrite' Roy's mouth agreed, before his brain could discuss the idea properly. The blondes rapidly changing emotions were just so hot, and his embarrassment was especially cute.

'I'll be real good and...' Ed trailed off, realising what the man had just said. 'For...for real?' Ed stuttered in disbelief.

'Yes, really' Roy confirmed, deciding that tonight's conversation had been mildly amusing, and if he went out with the blonde once, and confirmed to Edward that this wasn't right, he could call it off afterwards saying he had tried and hear no more of it. Anyway, his luck with dates had been so bad lately, he may as well take Edward out while the dust settled and women began to want his attention again.

'That's great!' Ed beamed at him, and Roy couldn't help but smile back, especially when he realised that somewhere between the talking, all of his paperwork had got finished. It was near to midnight so Roy decided they could plan their date, and then go home.

'Shall I pick you up tomorrow at 7 then?' Roy asked, utilising the same framework he had previously planned for his date with Vivian.

'That's fine!' Ed replied, then realised he was supposed to work 'Oh... wait, I'm... I'm supposed to work evenings now' he finished dejectedly.

'I'll expect you to return to you're previous shift pattern Monday' Roy responded, waving off Ed's questioning look. 'Don't worry, I'll inform the first lieutenant. Take tomorrow off, I know I am.' Roy grinned through his yawn as he finished organising everything for Hawkeye to find in the morning and scrawling a quick note to the blonde sharpshooter.

'Ok' Ed responded, in a bit of a daze as he organised all his own work. 'So I guess this means that you really did make up that rule' he murmured.

'I didn't make it up' Roy replied. He realised that getting up the courage to ask someone out whom you didn't have much of a feeling for took enough out of a person. If what Edward claimed was true, and he really liked Roy a lot, then shooting the kid down so cruelly after he had made the effort to ask Roy out was just plain evil. He had rejected Ed in the same way Vivian had rejected him.. and now he knew how it felt. Perhaps he could have been more tactful, or indeed just agreed to one date in the first place. It wasn't as if he didn't like Edward, so it wouldn't hurt to give the kid a chance, after all, age was only a number. Roy added cheekily, 'I just should have known better than to approach you with rules, since you've never had any regard for them in the past.'

Ed only smiled in response, recalling all the times in the past where he had no regard for any rules that Roy tried to impose on him. It was true, and Ed was content that he had got what he wanted, no longer so worried that they would have nothing to talk about. After all, tonight had been good.

They walked out of the office together and into the street. Roy glanced at Ed for a moment before nodding once. This wouldn't be so bad.

'I'll see you tomorrow then' Roy said, and Ed said goodnight and turned to walk towards home.

'I...don't forget ok?' Ed turned to order him, blushing. He didn't think Roy had any idea how much this meant to him, how much he really wanted this. He had to be sure.

'I won't' Roy promised, and stood content to watch Ed walk away before turning down his own path, trench coat billowing, too tipsy to really give a damn what he'd just agreed to.

* * *

The next day, the office was strangely quiet. Roy Mustang had finished every last bit of paperwork left for him. Of course he had still decided to take the day off to 'recover' as he had so eloquently put it in his note, after claiming he had been in the office until 4am to get everything completed. He had also mentioned that Edward had changed his mind about working nights already, after only four days. Sometimes Edward was as much trouble as his superior. Still, it really wasn't all that much trouble to change Edward back to working in the daytime, but she couldn't believe Mustang had given the kid the day off...it was going to be rather difficult to get today's paperwork done with the two of them slacking off for the day. Still, it was surprising blessing that the pair hadn't given everyone else more work to do by destroying the office in one of their famous fights. She supposed she could let them off for today. She could always work them extra hard Monday morning when they got back.

Havoc arrived, nodding in greeting to the first lieutenant with his customary cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth. He put it out on his desk, before grinning to her goofily.

'Guess what happened last night?' He asked, slouching in his chair, looking into the beautiful eyes of his secret crush.

'You found out that the General did his paperwork already?' Riza asked, then wondered if Jean was happy because of a date. Secretly, she hoped not, wondering if Jean would ever have the guts to ask her out.

'He did?' Jean looked momentarily baffled. 'Well he must have come back here after I stole his date last night' he grinned, wishing he had the guts to ask Hawkeye out.

'You stole a date from Roy? But when I left him he was in his office...' Riza mused. She supposed that deep down she had known he was trying to trick her. Still, perhaps Edward had managed to pick up the pieces of his superior officer. It seemed that way, after all, a depressed Roy Mustang never got anything done. His paperwork wasn't torched, but he had still lied to her. Her hand went to her gun. Her superior it seemed, needed to be reminded of the importance of his work and his goal. Also, on a different topic entirely, if Havoc had stolen a date from Roy Mustang, perhaps he was growing a backbone and she would finally get a date herself. Either that or The General had left his gloves at home.

'Yup, he was late and I was in the right place at the right time!' Havoc grinned nervously as he watched her touch her gun, and wondered if she was less fierce outside of the office, and if she would ever look at him when she seemed so close to his boss. Then again, with the way things went last night, it seemed he may stand a chance. The boss was losing his touch.

The rest of the office piled in, and Hawkeye informed them that due to the absence of Edward and the General, they would all have to work harder than usual today. This evoked groans from the rest of the office, except Breda, who sat at his desk and grinned, reaching inside his desk drawer for his bottle of scotch.

'WHAT!!' Breda yelled, baffled, his arms flailing uselessly. 'All right, who did it? Who stole my bottle of scotch?!'

Hawkeye glared at him, and, realising what he'd just said, Breda worked hard to provide an excuse, while the rest of the office prepared to give him the cold shoulder for the rest of the day for not sharing his stash.

* * *

Well, next chapter, these guys are finally going to go out together! I'm so happy for them, even if I'm still not sure about Roy's intentions! From now on the pace picks up a little, but updates will still only be once a week, maybe even later depending on how hard the next chapter is to write!

Reviews make me happy!


	5. Shopping and a Date

Thank you to everyone who added this to their alerts and those who reviewed, and for continuing to stick with this. I'm currently trying to fathom out where I'm going with the plot of this story, and now have a few ideas of a subplot to complement the main plot. This chapter became particularly troublesome, as at a few points I became completely stuck with how to have these two interact! Most of this was first completed on paper rather late at night! I hope to have the next update completed sooner than this one was.

EDIT: To timeline. I really should have thought of this sooner, but Fuhrer Bradley really needed to be defeated, because he was onto Roy and his subordinates. Fuhrer Haruko will have taken his place as Fuhrer, and is suspicious of Roy because of his supposed involvement in Bradley's death.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist!

* * *

The next day Edward was grinning from the moment he awoke. A date with Roy Mustang! Ed admitted that while he was excited, he was also a little scared and apprehensive. In the office they had managed to find a few things to talk about to get them through the night, but would things be the same on a date? Or would they find themselves with absolutely nothing to say to each other? Edward sighed and sat up in bed with resolve. He had to make this good: it may be his only chance to impress Mustang and secure a second date. He had decided last night that he would need some help. His brother Alphonse was asleep when Ed had got home late the night before, but he should be awake now. Ed knew if he wanted to catch his brother before he left to search for a job he would have to get up early, so he had set his alarm for 8am.

Yawning, Ed rolled out of bed and stumbled sleepily into the kitchen, where he waved at Alphonse, who was making coffee.

'Your up early brother, don't you need to sleep ready for work tonight?' Alphonse queried, but at the same time moving to make Ed some breakfast.

'Well…' Ed started, a little unsure of how to proceed. He slumped down at the table in contemplation. Al usually had to drag him on dates, how would he react knowing that Ed had gone out of his way to find his own date?

'You didn't get fired did you?' Al rounded on Ed, dreading that his brother had finally pushed poor General Mustang to his limit. He hoped not, because although Edward frequently gave the man hell, Ed's wages were the only thing paying the bills right now. Until Al managed to find a job of his own that is. Although Al may tease his brother sometimes about quitting the military, they both knew the importance of Edward holding onto his job.

'No, no nothing like that!' Ed protested hurriedly, and then added, blushing slightly, 'I have the night off tonight… for a date'

Al was pouring the coffee as Ed decided to speak. His mouth hung open in shock and the mug he was filling overflowed. Realising his mistake when the hot coffee scalded his hand, al yelped and stopped pouring, using a quick wipe of a cloth to clear up the mess and running his burning hand under cold water, pouting.

Ed watched on, bemused by his little brother's reaction. Controlling his snickering, Ed moved to his brother's side.

'You ok Al?' he asked, leaning against the counter casually and taking a sip of coffee in an attempt to wake himself up.

'I'm fine, really' Al confirmed, as the water soothed the pain. 'What about you though? Do you seriously have a date tonight or were you just messing with me?

'I'm not messing with you' Ed griped, having woken up some. The reality of the situation was setting in. This was his one chance to impress Mustang. 'I have a date tonight…Only… this person means a lot to me, so I was wondering…' Damn, he hated asking people for help, but still, this WAS his brother, and he really had no choice if he wanted Roy to like him. Summoning all his courage and promising to boost his ego with some sparring later, Ed continued. 'Will you help me? I have no idea what to wear, how to act, what to talk about… And I really want this to go well and…'

Al sighed, trying to make this easier on his brother. 'Ed, you're rambling.'

Ed stopped himself, took a deep breath and said 'I'm sorry Al, I know I am. I'm just nervous. This isn't like a battle where I can control the outcome using alchemy or fighting techniques. I have no idea what to expect. What if they don't like me?'

'I'm sure they'll like you well enough as long as you be yourself' Al started, and, realising that his previous attempts to set up his brother meant no where near as much as this did to Ed, groaned lightly and continued. 'Well… maybe with a few changes… like eating nicely for a change. No one likes a slob… and you can't go out dressed like that!' With that, Al motioned to his brothers usual work attire - tight leather pants that left little to the imagination, a black shirt, covered by a black coat, then covered again by what was now a very beaten up red jacket.

'What's wrong with what I'm wearing?' Ed protested, looking down at himself. It was practical in his line of work to dress like this!

'Nothing' Al shrugged. Ed's eyes lit up with hope, but Al continued 'If you're working. That kind of getup isn't exactly flattering.' In fact, if Al was honest, and wanted to be smacked upside the head, he would say that Ed's current getup made him look short, childish even. If Ed was going to impress this date, he needed to dress more appropriately.

'So you'll help me?' Ed interrupted eagerly. After all, he wanted to emphasise his best assets on his date with Roy, whatever Al thought they were.

Al pretended to seriously consider his brothers question for a moment before replying 'Ok. You have to promise to tell me all the details when you get home though, that is if you get home'

Al watched with amusement as his brother blushed as red as his jacket. 'Al!' he yelled, chasing his brother around the kitchen table. After all, this was only a first date, and only in Ed's dreams would Mustang want to take things further. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

It was two hours later when Edward and Alphonse Elric arrived at the shopping district of Central. Ed gazed around in awe at the multitude of shops and knew at once that he was in over his head. He had no idea where to start! Al however weaved his way confidently through the milling crowds of people towards a shop labelled 'entral' clothing, the 'C' having given up on life long ago. Normally this would have put Edward off a shop; after all, if the upkeep of the outside wasn't good, then the inside was bound to be the same. However, he had faith in his little brother, who had obviously been here before, and always managed to look dateable. Inside, Ed had never seen so many clothes in his life, with the exception of perhaps the inside of Alphonse's wardrobe. Ed groaned in trepidation as he glanced around the store. He knew shopping would be an essential as he had nothing of his own that would be good enough for tonight. Tonight was special.

Of course, Edward had contemplated asking Al to borrow the same clothes that he had worn on that fateful double date, but decided against it. If he was honest, those clothes drowned him a little, because Alphonse was taller than him. Not that he was short or anything, Al was just taller. He muttered angrily to himself in denial. Roy had already seen him in those clothes anyway.

Sighing, Ed realised that he had been left behind, Alphonse somewhere halfway across the store already, carrying a huge bundle of different coloured clothes. Ed moaned in disgust as he spotted orange. While he dearly valued Al's opinion in this, he didn't want to wear orange. He didn't want Al to make him look ridiculous. Still, for a boy who had spent most of his teenage years inside a suit of armour, Alphonse had amazing taste in clothes.

Ed followed quickly after his brother, hoping that this would be over quickly; after all, he still had to prepare himself for his date tonight.

* * *

Five hours, thirty shops and five takeaway noodles later

To say Edward Elric was mad would be an understatement. Alphonse had taken forever in deciding what would be best for him and now, as a result of this, Edward had only a few hours left to get ready for his date. He knew he'd have to calm his temper down before then, but how could he not be angry? Al had tried to buy him eye shadow. Eye shadow was girly… and those girls working in the shop had laughed at him!

'Brother, brother, wait please!' Al called, trying to catch up with Ed, who moved rather fast for someone so short. 'We still haven't found a necklace for you. I think something silver would go great with your shirt!'

'We don't have time Al! I don't want to be late!' Ed pouted, considering for a moment. 'Can't I just transmute something? There wasn't anything I liked in those shops.' Ed shuddered at the memory. All of those shops were rather feminine. While Al didn't seem to mind wearing that stuff, Ed didn't see himself wearing anything with flowers or kitties on it.

Al groaned at that. His brother had weird taste when it came to transmutations. Still, he supposed it would show that quirky personality of Ed's in a way that hopefully wouldn't be that noticeable. They did need to get home quickly after all. Al knew his brother would need to calm down both his temper and his panic before he left. 'What did you have in mind?'

Grinning, Ed pulled some metal from his pocket and clapped his hands together, transmuting the metal into a silver pendant. Al looked it over in awe as the light from the transmutation faded. Amazingly it wasn't all that bad. 'Ok, I'll let you wear that' Al agreed, ruffling his brother's hair playfully, as they walked down the street towards home. Ed hated it when he did that. It reminded him that he was shorter.

* * *

Roy Mustang hated to admit it, but he was slightly nervous. This wouldn't be the first time he had made promises when he was tipsy. Now he had a date with a short-tempered, short blonde teenager. Still, he had been rather bored as of late and he admitted, lonely. At least this evening with his work colleague would help take his mind off his rather troubled love life.

When he had first awoken that morning he had seriously considered calling the whole thing off, however, he figured that doing so would seriously damage his working relationship with Fullmetal. It wasn't as if he had anything better planned for that evening at any rate. If he cancelled tonight he was likely to end up with a black eye courtesy of the blonde's automail, and Edward would never speak to him again. Breaking his promise to take Ed out would be unacceptable in Ed's eyes. The Eric's always kept their promises after all. He would humour Edward's request for a date tonight, and when he finally proved that they weren't well suited, things would hopefully return to normal.

Roy spent his day relaxing around his house in his underwear researching some new techniques for his infamous flame alchemy and nursing a slight hangover. Breda had a fabulous taste in scotch, and he vowed to find out where his subordinate had gotten hold of that bottle. Roy had fully anticipated his first lieutenant phoning his house to complain about his impromptu day off work, so he had conveniently knocked his phone off the hook on his trip to the kitchen to make breakfast. He really didn't feel like explaining himself, or being shouted at. Chances were he would feel the wrath of one blonde tonight already. Two in one day would be just too much.

Lunch had been a simple affair, and pretty soon Roy was lost again in his research. It was only when the clock chimed six that he realised he had only 45 minutes left to get ready before he had to leave to pick up Edward. It took Roy half an hour to shower and find something suitable to wear, and another five minutes to fix his hair. Roy took a good look at his reflection in the mirror and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it gently so that he now looked rebelliously sexy. It was now that he began to feel the nervousness. He felt that this was mainly because he had no idea what to expect from the evening. He was flattered that Ed liked him, and if he was honest, the blonde wasn't that bad looking. Roy had never really considered guys before in a romantic way, not since the disaster with Maes in boot camp. It wasn't as if he was completely against the idea of being with another man, he had just been hurt before.

Putting his nervousness aside, he grabbed his car keys and headed for the door. Well this was it, he thought, as he left the house and headed to the car.

* * *

Al poked his head into his brother's room. Ed was pacing holes in the floor.

'Brother? It's almost seven' Al reminded, thinking that Ed should really be heading to pick up or meet his date by now.

'I'm going' Ed replied, grabbing his keys on his way to the front door of the brothers shared flat.

'Brother' Al called, catching Ed's arm as he opened the door. 'Just be yourself. Don't be nervous, you'll be fine.' He encouraged, privately worried for his brother, who wasn't exactly great at socialising. He hoped for Ed's sake that this went well.

He saw Ed nod nervously. 'I'll see you later Al!' he waved as he excited the flat. Stepping out onto the pavement, Ed fiddled with the hem of his shirt. He trusted that Alphonse had made him look ok. It was time to lock away his nervousness and make this date count. 'This is it' Ed thought, as Roy's car approached him where he stood on the sidewalk.

* * *

Roy's headlights illuminated a figure standing on the side of the pavement, all in black, gold hair pulled back into a high ponytail. He pulled up beside the blonde and before he could open the door for the blonde as he normally would when on a date; Edward had opened the door himself and slid into the passenger seat beside Roy. From a gap in the window of Edwards flat, Alphonse cursed, his plan to get a glimpse of his brothers date foiled.

'Hey' Ed greeted, trying not to be nervous. 'Thanks for agreeing to this'

'Its no problem' Roy replied easily, putting the car into gear and moving the car into the road again. 'Nervous?' Roy asked, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Ed was wringing his hands together in his lap.

'A little' Ed confirmed, cursing Roy's ability to always see through him. It was hard for him to think of something to say to the man, usually they traded insults.

'I don't bite' Roy joked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

It worked somewhat, and Ed laughed. 'No, but you do flame!' he joked back.

Roy smirked, 'Only when I'm working' he replied, and he saw Ed smile a little, happy that Roy didn't consider this date as a chore.

'So where are we going?' Ed asked, looking out of the window and trying to determine their current location.

'It's a secret!' Roy proclaimed, tapping the side of his nose with his forefinger.

Ed shook his head in amusement, smiling as he turned to the window to watch the world go by. Five minutes of companionable silence later the car pulled into the parking lot of a stylish restaurant. Ed got out of the car and glanced around the immediate area. Large, detached houses lined the lit up streets, surrounded by well kept gardens. The place Roy had chosen was in the middle of a long street, with few connecting roads. The restaurant itself was small yet attractive, and gave the impression of being a small business. Concluding that this was a fairly upmarket area of central, Ed stood facing the restaurant. Roy joined Ed, standing beside the boy looking amused. Ed felt the need to explain his through assessment of the surroundings.

'It's a force of habit' Ed explained, gesturing around the area. 'I like to know where all the exits are, where any possible materials for use in transmutations are and what type of layout the area has so I can respond better if I'm attacked'

'That's rather sensible coming from you' Roy replied, surprised that the blonde knew how to plan and use tactics. After all, based on the damage reports Roy had to sign off every time the blonde was on a mission, it seemed as if all Ed did was go into a situation, alchemy blazing, and blew things sky high. He realised that if Edward didn't plan, his expense reports could be a lot higher. He realised though that lately, Edward's expense reports had contained nowhere near as much damage as they had when he was younger.

'It saved my life on a number of occasions' Ed agreed. 'I do try and minimise the damage caused, but I feel that saving my life and the lives of any civilians is more important than property damage'

Roy was momentarily surprised by Edward's maturity, before he shook his head in amusement. He was learning new things about the blonde alchemist already.

'Shall we go inside then?' Roy asked, and Edward nodded, falling into step beside Roy as they headed towards the restaurant.

'So what kind of food do they serve here?' Ed asked, tempted to breach the gap between them and link hands with Roy. He thought perhaps it was too soon for that, so instead shoved his hands in his pockets. He was rather hungry: it wasn't often he left dinner until this late in the evening.

'Steak mainly' Roy admitted. 'Though there's a selection of other options available' Roy had picked this particular restaurant mostly because Ed had seemed to enjoy the steak house that he had been in a few nights ago with Alphonse. He at least wanted Ed to enjoy himself. Roy opened the door and held it open for Edward absentmindedly. Ed grinned, both at the choice of food, and at Roy's date like behaviour.

'Steak is one of my favourite foods!' Ed exclaimed easily. After all, this was the truth. He looked around in awe as he followed Roy into the warmly lit foyer.

* * *

Roy relaxed in the familiar environment. The restaurant was decorated in reds and gold's, rather reminiscent of the colour of the clothes Ed usually chose to wear. The lighting was perfect, designed to be not so light as to blind the patrons, but not so dark that you had to squint to see. The seating was arranged to ensure privacy, each table was evenly spaced across the floor to give enough room so that conversations could not be overheard. Yet from every table in the building, the detail of the decoration could be appreciated, particularly the golden chandeliers that hung from the ceiling, sparkling beautifully against the red background. Roy always felt at peace here, he often came here alone after a stressful day, just to relax and unwind.

Roy turned sharply when a glimpse of gold caught his eye, and for the first time that evening Roy really looked at his date. Edward had removed his coat and hung it limply over his right arm. Roy barely registered the waiter who took both of their coats and headed off with the promise of finding them a table. Roy's attention was captured by Edward. The boys golden hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, yet his fringe still framed his face and emphasised the golden hues of his eyes, which sparkled in the light as he observed his surroundings. Roy's eyes travelled southwards to the boy's torso, which was adorned with a well fitted blue shirt, the colour of which, Roy realised, matched the hair ribbon that bound Ed's hair. The shirt was long sleeved, covering Edwards automail arm and accentuating his well built torso. Roy noted with interest that Ed was not wearing his usual gloves, leaving his automail hand exposed to the world. Roy was fascinated by that arm, and many times had wanted to ask Ed if he could take a closer look. This was purely professional of course. The only thing that stopped him was the boys temper. It was amazing how much movement and power Ed could get out of that arm. Roy found himself wondering if that hand could be gentle too.

Ed had left his usual black leather pants at home in favour of a pair of white designer jeans, which fit his lithe form rather well. A black belt enclosed Ed's waist and from that hung a silver chain going into a pocket that Roy could only assume contained the boys state alchemist pocket watch. Roy noticed that Ed was wearing the same boots he usually wore, but he found that he didn't mind. He couldn't imagine Fullmetal in anything more formal. His eyes were drawn upwards again to Ed's face, and it was then he noticed a pendant hanging from his neck. It was shimmering in a similar style to Ed's automail. Roy vaguely recalled that Ed had the same symbol on the back of his red jacket. On closer inspection, Roy saw that the serpent's eye was the same golden colour as Ed's own eyes. Roy blushed as he realised he had just checked out his subordinate and liked what he saw. Belatedly, he told himself that a relationship couldn't survive on looks alone, and he wasn't going to use Edward like he did most of the people he went out with. If he didn't get on with the blonde, it was over. He supposed though, that he may find they got on better than he imagined.

* * *

Ed finished scanning the restaurant quickly. It was fancy, and he usually despised anything fancy, yet somehow he felt right at home. Perhaps it was because he always dressed in the same colour red as the wallpaper, and his eyes matched some of those gold colours perfectly. He wondered if Roy had chosen this place purposely knowing that. He blushed at the thought of Roy being serious about this date. Ed furtively stole a glance at the man who was his date for the evening. Roy Mustang always looked good, but tonight, seeing the man out of uniform, Ed thought that Roy looked gorgeous. Mustang wore a long sleeved white dress shirt, and he had left the top two buttons undone to give anyone looking a teasing glimpse of the broad chest beneath the shirt. Ed felt the desire to run his fingers over that chest, and quickly shook his head in an attempt to shake his blush, before turning his attention to study the rest of his dates outfit. It looked like the man didn't favour accessories, but he really didn't need any. Roy's black trousers fit him exceptionally well and matched his obsidian eyes and dark hair. Ed watched as Roy looked around the restaurant nostalgically. Roy had defiantly been here before, and Ed decided to ask the man about it once they were seated. Removing his coat and hanging it over his arm until the waiter came to take it away, Ed stuffed his hands in his pockets as he waited for the man to return and show them to a table. He felt someone watching him, and looked up cautiously before realising to his delight that Roy was checking him out.

'See something you like?' Ed asked amused and feeling rather confident seeing the way Roy was looking at him.

Roy appeared flustered when he realised he had been caught staring. Normally he would have been more discreet, but he had lost himself to thoughts of him and Ed, together. Regaining his composer, Roy responded honestly, 'Yes, you look different'

Ed faltered a little. He just looked different? Roy saw Edward's disappointment on the boys face. Usually he was much better at complimenting people. Ed was easy on the eye, especially tonight. It was obvious he had put a lot of effort into this. Perhaps it was more difficult because Edward was his young male subordinate.

Either way, Roy decided to swallow his pride and compliment the blonde properly. 'It's nice to see you in something different. You look good' Roy admitted, hoping that Ed didn't take that as anything more than it was. He had seen the boys eyes light up at his words.

'You look good too' Ed complimented, letting his eyes sweep up and down Roy's body a couple of times, in an obvious show of checking him out.

'Don't strain yourself' Roy jested, noticing that Ed had to tilt his head a little to look up at him.

'Who are you calling so short that he couldn't look you in the eyes even if he stood on a hundred telephone books!' Ed yelled, fuming at the insinuation that he was short. They attracted the attention of the other patrons who stared in amusement at the short tempered blond teenager, and Ed began to blush lightly, scowling as he heard one woman mention that parents should learn to control their children in reference to himself and Roy. Damn, he had screwed up now.

Roy was amused that he could still get this reaction out of Edward. He really thought that Ed was going to become stuffy and boring the instant they were on a date in an effort to impress him, but instead the blonde was being the same short tempered midget as always. Roy held his fist in front of his mouth to cover his laughing, but couldn't help himself.

Ed's head shot up as he heard laughing, and turned to see his date struggling to control himself. Ed smiled a little hopefully, as Roy finally composed himself and turned to the waiter who wanted to lead them to a table. Slinging an arm over Ed's shoulders good naturedly, Roy led Ed after the waiter.

'You don't have to worry about it' Roy said, referring to Ed's outburst. 'You're so much more interesting when your being yourself. You're sensitivity about your height is part of who you are, Midget' Roy grinned, hoping to encourage Ed to loosen up a little.

Ed felt pleasantly warm at the close proximity of Roy's body to his own, and felt the familiar anger resurface at the word midget. 'Who are you calling so small that he would get lost in the mechanics of his own pocket watch!' Ed ranted, though the effect as lost as he subconsciously moved closer to Roy. He was disappointed when they finally reached their destination. It seemed management deemed them troublesome to the other patrons. They had been placed in a small booth at the corner of the restaurant, as far from everyone else as possible.

Roy grinned as Ed whimpered quietly at the loss of contact as they both moved to their seats, sitting opposite each other. 'You may be small, but I wouldn't have you any other way' Roy whispered, grinning as he glanced at the other patrons who were looking appalled by their behaviour.

'I'm not short' Ed muttered murderously, but catching onto the fact that Roy liked to tease him. He grinned back, enjoying himself thoroughly, and looked through the menu.

Roy watched as the blonde lounged in his chair, glad that Ed wasn't taking his teasing to heart. Edward was fun to tease, Roy mused, as he decided on what to order. Tonight had already been fairly fun, and he wondered what the rest of the evening would bring.

* * *

After they had both ordered and been supplied with drinks, Roy a glass of red wine and Edward a glass of orange juice, Roy turned to Ed with a smile. He nodded, as if confirming some inner plan to himself before musing that asking Ed about his interests was a safe place to start.

'So' he began 'What interests you? Roy figured this question was safe enough, and he really was becoming curious. This date with Edward was turning out better than he had anticipated.

Edward thought for a moment. He had anticipated this question earlier, when he was pondering how the date would go and what they would talk about. He hoped Roy didn't mind him talking about alchemy.

'Well, you already know I'm interested in alchemy' Ed began. 'I love researching new theories, reading all I can on the subject and putting ideas into practice.'

'So alchemy is your hobby as well as a job?' Roy mused 'I was always under the impression that you learned alchemy out of necessity.' To bring back your dead mother and get your brothers body back, Roy thought silently, and knew Ed would get this implication from his statement.

'That's not entirely true,' Ed countered, hoping not to delve into his past too much. 'Before our mother died, Alphonse and I experimented with alchemy because we loved doing so. Our first successful transmutation was when I was six years old.'

'Six?' Roy voiced his shock aloud. Of course he knew the brothers had started learning alchemy at a young age, but he presumed it had started after their mother had died. 'You mean to tell me that you understood alchemy at the age of six?'

'Oh yes' Ed smirked, pleased that Roy found this impressive. 'Our father left a multitude of his alchemy textbooks and research journals behind in his study when he left. Whenever I fought with Al, mom used to shut me in there as punishment. To any other child it would have been an adequate punishment, as the room was filled with nothing but complicated books, but to me, it was like a haven where I could research alchemy to my hearts content. When I felt I understood some of it, I shared my discovery with Al, and we both became intrigued by Alchemy'

'Born a genius then?' Roy joked light-heartedly.

'Inherited from my father' Ed agreed, feeling that at least the man was useful for something, even if he was a washout as a father.

'When I started learning alchemy I was around ten, and I wasn't very interested at all. I was much more interested in fire. My parents arranged an apprenticeship with a local alchemist when I was eleven to try and encourage my alchemy. When I found out my tutor was interested in flame alchemy I developed a real passion for trying it myself. Now, I spend a lot of my free time developing new theories' Roy mused, thinking back to a time when he would rather cause trouble around town than stick his head in a book. Now alchemy was one of his greatest passions, and something he had in common with Edward Elric.

Ed nodded thoughtfully. 'You always did seem passionate about your alchemy' he agreed. 'I remember during my battle assessment your techniques seemed so well practiced. You really knew what you were doing'

'These techniques have seen war' Roy recalled, looking at his gloves 'If I didn't know what I was doing out there I would have died. While what you say is a compliment of my ability, it is also a reminder that this power should be used responsibly'

Ed grimaced, knowing that this was the truth and noting that this conversation had gotten rather dark. 'My mistakes have taught me the same lessons' Ed concluded, and was reminded for a moment of his failed human transmutation. 'Perhaps the state should consider teaching alchemy so that mistakes like ours do not get repeated.'

'That's an idea that would be worth looking into' Roy agreed, thinking that perhaps Ed deserved a promotion. He was loyal, and had good ideas. If Roy were Fuhrer, all his loyal subordinates would get promoted. Unfortunately if he put any of them forward for promotion in his current position, there was a chance they could be transferred out of his command, and he needed people who were loyal to him if he was ever going to reach his goal. 'Perhaps I should put the idea forward at the next staff meeting?'

'And get all the credit for my idea?' Ed scoffed and leaned forward conspiratorially. 'Wait until you become Fuhrer, then you can promote me for my excellent suggestion'

Ed drew back quickly as the waiter reappeared with their order. He placed plates of steak, steaming vegetables and potato in front of each of them and left with a polite 'Enjoy your meals, sirs'

It was then Ed realised that he was ravenous, and that his conversation with Roy had been distracting him from his hunger. He eyed his food hungrily, and glanced up at Roy, who had signalled the waiter to refill their drinks. When their drinks were refilled, Roy looked over at Ed, a scheming twinkle in his eye.

'I'll drink to that!' Roy proposed, referring to Ed's earlier comment and raising his glass.

'To the Fuhrer!' Ed agreed, raising his glass to meet Roy's in a toast, and both men knew that they were not toasting the current Fuhrer.

They lowered their glasses and Ed grabbed his knife and fork and began to eat. Roy followed suit and they both dug into their meals hungrily. Roy looked Ed's way for a while, thinking about restarting their conversation but reconsidered as he noticed the blonde eating rather quickly. He didn't think Edward would be able to hold a decent conversation while shovelling food into his mouth at that speed. Instead, Roy opted for enjoying his meal in the comfortable environment with pleasant company.

* * *

When they had both finished eating, the waiter returned to clear their plates and offer them the dessert menu. Both Roy and Ed decided to order dessert, and sat back to relax in their chairs as they waited for their order to arrive.

'So have you brought dates here before?' Ed ventured curiously. This was a very nice restaurant. He might consider bringing Al here sometime.

Roy thought for a moment, and realised that he hadn't. Usually he came here alone, or, when Maes was still alive, the two would come here together after work sometimes. Had he brought Ed here because he was special? No, he reasoned. He had brought the blonde here because it seemed that this restaurant was more to Edwards taste than some of the places he frequented with his normal dates. Of course that meant that he was already sensitive to the blonde's feelings for him. He realised then that he hadn't answered Ed's question yet.

'I used to come here with Maes' Roy said, unable to stop the words leaving his mouth. He didn't want to make Edward feel uncomfortable by bringing up his dead best friend and his demons on a first date. The last thing he wanted was to scare the blonde away. Not now that they were getting on so well.

Ed looked downcast for a moment, feeling guilty for bringing up bad memories for Roy and remembering the time that Roy had withheld the information about Hughes death from himself and Al. To protect him, he realised now of course. Maes Hughes had been very much like a father figure to both Edward and Alphonse. He was always looking out for them.

'He was a good man' Ed murmured, knowing that 'good' really didn't even begin to describe Hughes. He glanced at Roy and saw the pain of loss clearly in his eyes. Hesitantly, Edward reached his hand across the table and took Roy's hand in his own, squeezing gently and what he hoped was reassuringly. Roy looked up, a little surprised by the public display of affection, something that was rarely seen from Edward unless you caught a glimpse of Ed and Al alone together. Roy felt privileged, and relaxed a little, smiling slightly at Ed. Ed smiled back, and Roy found himself getting lost in those golden eyes, leaning his head forward slightly towards Eds.

Roy was jolted quickly back to reality as the blonde jerked his hand away and under the table, blushing madly. Roy reclined his head and looked up to see the waiter approaching with their desserts. Grinning at Ed, who had managed to compose himself, Roy asked the waiter to bring the bill along in about ten minutes. The man served them their desserts, nodded to acknowledge Roy's request, and left to serve the other patrons.

'So…' Ed began, a little unsure of what had just happened.

'Enjoy your dessert' Roy smiled kindly, and after thinking for a bit said 'Thank you'

Ed smiled a little, and began to eat his dessert. 'It was nothing' he replied, and added 'If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you'

Roy had begun to eat his own dessert, and nodded in acknowledgement to Ed's offer, not wanting to talk with his mouth full. Ed was perceptive enough to notice this, and continued to eat his own dessert in silence, reflecting on the evening. He wasn't going to hope for too much, but at the very least he had gotten to know his commanding office better. He realised that during his musing he had finished his dessert. Roy had great taste, the food here was excellent.

Roy had also finished his dessert, and was now perusing the bill. He had decided before coming that he would be paying, after all, he always paid for his dates, and Edward was not going to be an exception. This had been an enjoyable evening, and Edward deserved some form of reward for his hard work in the military over the years. He pulled out his pocket watch and stood from the table.

'Shall we go then?' Roy asked Edward, who had noticed Roy getting up and had also begun to stand.

'Yes' Ed replied, and stifled a yawn. Today had been amazing, and he did not want the evening to end, however all that shopping with Alphonse had worn him out. Ed moved out from behind the table and followed Roy over to the desk, digging out his own pocket watch and fully intending to pay. He was the one who asked Roy out after all. Roy reached his hand over and placed it haltingly over Edwards, stopping him from getting out his watch.

'Let me take care of it' he insisted smoothly, and Ed couldn't argue with that. He felt that he had been owed this for years, and who was he to turn down a free meal?

'Fine' Ed pretended to huff, putting his hands in his pockets and glancing around covertly. He heaved a sigh of relief when he realised that the woman who had earlier referred to him as a child had gone. 'Thanks' he added quietly as Roy joined him after paying and they headed outside.

'You deserve it.' Roy offered, as they headed towards the car. 'Despite the destruction you cause more often than not, you have always been a valued member to my team'

'I know' Ed grinned up at Roy. 'Even if the only way you showed your appreciation was to yell at me for blowing things up'

'Well, you do tend to be a little destructive' Roy replied as they reached the car. It was a cool evening, and the skies were cloudy, hinting that perhaps there would be rain. 'Would you like a lift home?' Roy asked as he unlocked the car.

'Yes please' Ed replied quickly, and added 'I only destroy what I have to. I will admit I get a little carried away sometimes, but I only do that to survive'

'I know' Roy replied 'I don't resent you for it.' At least not anymore, he thought privately, now knowing that Ed did try to keep destruction to a minimum. They got in the car and left the restaurant.

* * *

The car journey back to Ed's flat was short, and soon he had pulled up in from of the apartment block. Roy turned to look at Edward. When he had first agreed to this date, he had thought it would be easy to convince himself and the blonde that this wouldn't work. However his plan was flawed, and he had found himself enjoying the evening immensely. Edward was not just a pretty face, and Roy supposed if he had thought carefully beforehand he would have realised this. Edward was gorgeous, intelligent, witty, and fun to be around. Roy couldn't think of any other time where he actually felt as if he had connected with a date. Tonight had been the most fun Roy had had since the death of his best friend, and even then, the fun times had been those he had spent with Maes, not with any date that he could find. Roy sighed. He had thought this was wrong, but he didn't want to stop.

'Edward' Roy spoke as the blonde moved his flesh hand to the door handle of Roy's car.

'Yes?' Ed replied, turning to look at Roy inquisitively, wondering what the man was going to say.

'I really enjoyed tonight' Roy admitted, sounding as surprised as he felt.

'Me too' Ed agreed, releasing the door handle from his grasp and turning fully towards Roy, smiling. He had a strong urge to kiss the man in front of him.

Roy gazed into golden eyes that were full of longing, at Ed's long golden hair, and beautiful smile. He couldn't resist Edward any longer; he had to see the blonde again. Reaching over with his left hand, Roy leaned forward and brushed Ed's golden bangs away from his face so that he could see better into those eyes. Cupping Edwards face against his hand, Roy leant down slowly and pressed his lips sensually against Edwards own. Ed was pleasantly surprised, but relaxed into the kiss, reaching his mismatched arms around Roy's neck to entangle in his jet black hair. Ed returned the kiss, pressing his lips back against Roy's with desire. Roy's other hand moved deftly to rest on Edward's waist, pulling the smaller male closer. Experimentally, Roy allowed his tongue to dart out of his mouth and lick at Edwards lips, hoping to be allowed access to taste the boy. Ed obliged, parting his mouth slightly and allowing Roy's warm tongue to slide inside the moist cavern of his mouth and against his own tongue, which stirred in interest. Tentatively, Ed flicked his tongue out to meet Roy's and was met with an indescribably pleasurable sensation of flavours and passion. The two duelled slowly, savouring the feeling. Roy slowly took control of the kiss, and began to explore the inside of Ed's mouth carefully, letting out a moan of surprised pleasure when Ed chose to suckle gently on his tongue. Roy retreated gently and again their tongues met, slowly tangling as they drew away from each other. Their lips met again briefly before they both pulled apart to breath, Roy's hand remaining on Ed's waist. Ed's hands had slipped to Roy's shoulders, a little sigh of contentment leaving his lips. Roy's left hand absentmindedly stroked Ed's face affectionately.

'Wow' Ed breathed out, wondering if he should move away anytime soon.

'Wow indeed' Roy agreed. Ed had summed it up perfectly. 'Would you like to go out again on Sunday?' Roy asked hopefully, when his brain had finally caught up with him. He wanted to see where these new feelings would lead him, and he hoped Edward would feel the same. 'I'd like to get to know you better' he added quickly.

'I'd like that too' Ed murmured thoughtfully, before shaking his head and asking 'Where are you taking me this time?'

'I'm afraid that's a surprise' Roy smiled gently, pulling the blonde close again, this time to briefly meet his lips. 'I'll pick you up at seven again if that's ok with you'

'Yes, that's fine' Ed agreed in a daze, opening the car door. 'I'll see you Sunday' he said, leaning over to kiss Roy softly before stepping out of the car.

'Yes, see you Sunday' Roy replied, and watched as the blonde left to head over to the apartment complex. He watched Ed enter through the door, before driving away, feeling very content. He was pleased he had given Edward a chance. This was looking like a promising start.

* * *

Please Review!


	6. Calm before the Storm

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, alerted, and added this to favourites. I'm very happy with the comments received so far, particularly regarding the first kiss, as I was a little worried about that. Comments are always nice to receive, and help me know that I'm doing a decent job!

I apologise for any particularly long future delays and for the huge delay in getting this chapter out. I'm in my second year of university and the workload overtook my life, leaving me little time for anything else. As much as I hate to put my writing second, If I want to pass my degree I'll have to, at least in term time. Rest assured this will continue, if a little slowly, whenever I have a spare moment to work on it. I have plans to pick up the pace soon and throw some conflict into the story. Anyway, hope the chapter is ok! It's a long one! (Longer than my three degree assignments put together!)

* * *

Edward climbed the stairs towards the flat he and Alphonse shared slowly. His mind was still reeling from that kiss. He was trying to get his thoughts in order before he had to face Al. He knew his brother would have questions, and he wanted to answer them the best he could without revealing who his date was. He wondered if he should let his brother know of his interest in another man. Still, that could give it away Ed mused. There were only so many men that they knew. He had promised Al all the details for helping him yesterday though. He decided on telling Al the basics. That they got on well, had an amusing time, and were seeing each other again Sunday. He would leave out the kissing.

Reflecting on the evening again, Ed thought that it couldn't have gone any better. Sure, they hadn't ended up back at Roy's, but to be honest, Ed felt that he didn't want to be just another fling or notch on Roy's bedpost. He was glad Roy was taking him seriously. He had been both surprised and pleased when Roy had leaned over and kissed him, and even more excited when the man had deepened the kiss. He felt butterflies in his stomach. Roy had asked him about again! That must mean that he was interested, and after that kiss, Ed's own interest had increased. He found himself wanting to find out more about his commanding officer, and wondered what Roy had in store for Sunday.

Edward reached the apartment door, and stood, taking a deep breath as he pulled out his key and opened the door. He cautiously stuck his head around the door looking for signs of Alphonse, half wondering if his brother had taken an early night. Leaning into the apartment further and shutting the door softly, Ed saw that he had no such luck. Alphonse was sitting on the sofa under the pretence of reading a book, however his face turned to Ed in expectation when he heard the door shut and he quickly put aside his book. Ed sighed in resignation and walked over to the sofa to sit beside his brother.

'Brother!' Al welcomed warmly, trying to gauge Ed's reaction, and wondering if he needed to tread carefully or not.

'Hey Al.' Ed grinned, reclining on the sofa and putting his feet up on the coffee table. It was hard for him to be unhappy about his brothers desire for details when the night had been so successful.

Al took his brothers relaxed pose and grin as a sign that things went well. It was time to get the details! 'So I take it you had a good time then?' he asked.

'Very much so.' Ed agreed, kicking off his boots. They landed with a thump on the coffee table, spreading dirt everywhere. Ed figured he would clean that up later.

'That's it?' Al pressed, scowling at the mess his brother had made 'Where did you go? What was it like? What was she like? I saw the car outside. She must be older than you if she can drive.'

Ed grimaced at his brothers observation about the car. It was a good job Roy hadn't got out to open the door for him. Al would have been rather shocked. At least he could answer most of the questions honestly.

'We went to a nice steak restaurant a few minutes drive from here. It was great! The food was excellent, and the company was good too. I should take you there sometime.' Ed replied, and, hoping to divert his brother a little, added 'We're going out again on Sunday, though I don't know where. Apparently it's a surprise.'

'If you're paying, I won't say no!' Al laughed as his brother opened his mouth to protest and continued 'She must like you if she wants to see you again, especially if she asked you! She likes to keep you guessing then?'

'It's a guy.' Ed blurted out, unable to stop himself. He just couldn't lie to Al, it felt wrong. They were brothers and they shared everything. He just hoped his brother would understand.

'A guy?' Al asked, intrigued 'An older guy?'

'Yes.' Ed confirmed, trying not to look as nervous as he felt. He liked Roy a lot, and didn't want to have to choose between him and his brother.

'So…you're gay?' Al guessed.

'I'm not sure,' Ed confessed, feeling the need to talk. Al hadn't yet appeared disgusted, so encouraged, Ed continued. 'All I know is that I like him a lot, and that we got on so well tonight! He even didn't mind my outbursts when he called me short! I'm really looking forward to Sunday,' he admitted, blushing lightly. 'I'm glad he agreed to take me out tonight.'

'You… asked him?' Al asked surprised, knowing that this small piece of information meant a lot in relation to his brother. Edward would never consider making the first move unless he really liked someone. 'You must like him a lot.'

'Yeah,' Ed agreed, feeling less worried by the second. A sudden memory of the kiss he had shared with Roy strengthened his resolve and brought a blush to his face. 'I know your probably worried Al, but I want more than anything to give this a go. You don't… hate me do you?' he asked tentatively.

'Of course not. You know I could never hate you Ed!' Al replied, slinging an arm around his brothers back. 'You'll always be my brother, and I'll always be here for you, just like you are for me. It doesn't matter who you go out with, as long as they make you happy. If he ever hurts you though, I'll kick his arse!'

'Al!' Ed exclaimed, shocked at his brothers use of language, yet relieved at his acceptance of the whole situation. 'Thanks,' he murmured, laying his head on his brothers shoulder, feeling rather tired.

Al smiled at his brother fondly. 'Are you going to tell me anything else then?' he asked curiously, hoping to get more out of Ed now that he was more relaxed and half asleep.

'He said I looked good,' Ed murmured smiling sleepily. 'And he paid for both of us!'

Al laughed gently, knowing that Ed loved a free meal. 'Come on, lets get you to bed,' he said, helping Ed up towards his room, knowing his brother would sleep on the sofa if left as is. He would find out more about Ed's date tomorrow.

'I can walk myself,' Ed muttered irritably, but made no effort to shrug off his brothers helping hand. Tired and relieved as he was, Ed had no trouble falling asleep.

When Ed was settled, Al retired to his own room, contemplating his brothers revelation. He had no problem at all with Ed's attraction to men. It made a lot of sense now. Ed must have been reluctant to double date with him because of his crush on the guy he was currently seeing. Al was curious as to who it was. He wondered if he knew the guy. Perhaps if he used binoculars next time when he was looking out of the window, he would find out. In his excitement over Ed's date, he had forgotten to mention Winry had called to say she was arriving on tomorrow mornings train. Still, he supposed he could tell his brother in the morning. Sighing to himself, he slipped into bed and fell asleep quickly, eagerly anticipating their friends visit tomorrow.

* * *

The day Edward awoke feeling very well rested. He was happy that his conversation with Al had gone well and especially pleased with how well his date had gone. In all honesty, he had been expecting Roy to humour him and at the end of the night tell him that it wasn't going to work. Instead they had talked civilly, eaten a good meal, and Ed hadn't had to worry about restraining his bad habits. Roy it seemed found amusement in his behaviour and had even asked him out again. For now, Ed ignored the voice at the back of his mind questioning how serious Roy was. He didn't think Roy would have asked him out again unless he was serious about giving a relationship between them a go. A man as intelligent as Mustang would have realised that leading Ed on would have disastrous consequences for their working relationship.

Ed rolled out of bed, getting easily to his feet and heading straight to the bathroom. Pausing in front of the mirror, Ed gazed at his reflection. His blonde hair was mussed from moving around in his sleep, sticking out at all angles, and his eyes were tired from just waking up. Ed moved his gaze downwards to look at his right shoulder, metallic and cold in comparison to his skin. He had grown to tolerate and even appreciate his automail over the years. It had saved his life on more than one occasion, proving a useful weapon. There had always been times that his automail had let him down. Such as during the battle with number 48 in laboratory five. There had also been times during the past he had cursed his metallic limbs, which had always served as a reminder of his childhood mistakes. When he was younger, Ed had gone to lengths to conceal his false limbs. However as he had grown older it mattered less that people knew about his automail. His automail was no disability, it had given him the ability to continue his life and achieve his goals. Dressing the way he did at work became habit, rather than a way to cover up his automail, and it set him aside from the military as a defiance of dress code. Personally he would rather dress in something comfortable that allowed him to move around freely and fight easily, rather than those restrictive uniforms.

With a sigh, Edward turned on the tap and cupped some cold water in his hands, splashing it on his face in an attempt to wake himself up a little. He would have more time to sort his hair out and get dressed properly after breakfast, which by the smell of things, was almost done. Moving through into the kitchen Ed followed his nose towards the food Alphonse had left on the table for him. Al was already dressed, Ed mused, as he looked at his brother, confused. It was Saturday, there was really no reason for him to be up and dressed so early.

'Brother! You're finally up!' Al exclaimed, watching as Ed sat down and began to eat his breakfast. 'You're not even dressed yet! Hurry up and eat, then get ready! We have to meet Winry at the station soon!'

'What!?' Ed exclaimed, expecting something, but not that. When Al and Winry got together they could really drive him nuts. It was a good job he had a date to look forward to. 'Since when?' he asked, sighing into his food in resignation.

'Since yesterday. With all the excitement of your date I forgot to tell you,' Al grinned sheepishly, sipping on his tea, having already eaten while Edward was sleeping.

'So you go meet her,' Ed griped 'I'll stay here and wait for you to get back.' He was already half way through his breakfast, and looked at Al sneakily. 'It'll give you a chance alone with her to finally ask her out.'

'Brother!' Al protested, blushing as red as Ed's favourite coat. 'You know I couldn't do that!'

'Why not Al?' Ed asked gently 'We both know you've had a crush on her for as long as we can remember.'

'But so have you!' Al argued 'I couldn't do that to you!'

'That's why you've been taking so long to ask her?' Ed queried, sipping his juice through a straw. 'I'm not interested in Winry that way. I think I lost interest the first time she threw that wrench at me. Since then she's been a good friend to me, but beyond that? She's all yours Al.'

'You're sure brother?' Al asked, trying to contain his excitement. It was true what his brother had said: he had liked Winry for years. Even when he was in a suit of armour she had still treated him the same, but he had always assumed it would be her and Ed that eventually got together. After all, everyone teased his brother about it.

'Positive Al. Winry thinks of me as a brother, and I have interests of my own,' Ed replied, grabbing another bagel and beginning to munch as he thought of the handsome man who invaded his thoughts so frequently.

'Great!' Al smiled, finishing his tea. 'Hurry up and get ready then! I promised Winry we would both meet her at the station!'

'Fine,' Ed agreed, finishing up his juice and heading to get ready to leave. He changed quickly into a midnight blue turtleneck sweater and thick black cargo pants. It had rained overnight, and the air was still cool. The last thing he wanted was to get ill before his date tomorrow. Ed pulled on his favourite red jacket and grabbed a hair tie. Al was in a rush and he didn't have time to braid his hair, so he opted instead for brushing it out and settling for a high ponytail.

When he felt presentable, Ed grabbed his watch and money, stuffing them in his pockets and left the room swiftly in search of his boots.

'Are you ready now?' Al called impatiently from the door, where he stood on the threshold ready to leave.

'Just a minute,' Ed called back, 'I can't find my boots!'

'In a heap on the coffee table,' Al supplied helpfully, hoping Ed had the sense to clean up the mess he made before they left.

Ed grimaced as he spotted his mud covered boots on an equally dirty coffee table. He really had to stop taking those shortcuts through the park to work, now he would have to clean his boots. He would sort that, and the mess on the coffee table out later though, Al was in a rush. He snickered at his brothers enthusiasm, pulling on his boots quickly and grabbing his keys from the table. He supposed he should hurry too. If they were late, he could end up getting a wrench to the head. Ed rushed to the door, grabbing another bagel on his way out, and pulling the door shut behind them.

'Hurry brother we're going to be late!' Al worried as Ed locked the door.

'You should have woken me earlier then,' Ed complained around his bagel as they headed outside.

'I would have, but you were moaning in your sleep,' Al teased mercilessly.

Ed blushed and shoved his hands in his pockets trying to ignore his immature younger brother, hoping that he had not been moaning Roy's name in his sleep again. 'I was not!' he denied, stalking off at a fast pace. 'Come on Al, hurry up will you? If we're late Winry will be mad.'

'Right,' Al agreed, snickering behind his hand as he ran to catch up with Ed, who thwacked him upside the head and left him cringing all the way to the station.

* * *

Roy awoke with a yawn, and stretched lazily in his king sized bed, throwing off the covers in the process. He gazed blearily over at his beside clock, which read 9.30am. He shook his head in amusement, realising that he had overslept, and slept rather well. He found himself content for once in facing the day, and stood slowly with the intention of getting breakfast as soon as possible. He dressed quickly for the day, in black comfy trousers that he preferred on his days off, and a warm blue sweater, because it was rather cold even around the house.

He mused thoughtfully as he headed down the stairs towards his kitchen in search of food. Tomorrow he had another date with Edward, and he was a little apprehensive. He had yet to make any plans, and felt the need to be a little more original than just another dinner date. Roy really did like Ed's company, and wanted the blonde to know that he meant more to him than just repeating the same evening as Friday. He wanted something different, something…romantic, and it had been a very long time since he had needed to bother with romance. Usually his rank and good looks were enough to get him a partner to warm his bed for the night. However, Edward didn't respect rank, and although his looks had attracted the blonde, Edward did not seem the type to just jump into his bed after a date or two. Roy felt that perhaps with Edward their relationship could run a little deeper than that anyway, if things worked out. He had enjoyed being with Ed immensely, and had found their date a refreshing change of pace.

Roy had reached the kitchen and began to look around for something to eat. After turning out every corner of the kitchen, he groaned in frustration. There wasn't a scrap of anything edible in sight. Roy decided a quick walk into town would do him good, and he could always grab breakfast out while he made an effort to restock his decimated food supply. Grabbing his keys and his long military overcoat, Roy left the house and locked the door behind him, heading out onto the street towards the market.

Reaching the market quickly, Roy realised that he had no idea what he actually wanted to buy. He really needed a little of everything, except for coffee. He made sure never to run out of that. It was an easy task when his office was always full of the stuff and no one seemed to notice exactly how much his office seemed to get through each week, or how much he took home. He began to mull over his options for his date tomorrow, not really paying much attention to where he was going or what he was buying. Roy munched on a doughnut he had picked up for breakfast, wondering what sort of date Edward would like best. The blonde liked to eat a surprising amount for someone so short, so involving food in this date was a good idea, however that left him with a restaurant again, which he didn't want to do. He ran a free hand through his hair in frustration, trying to think of something else. No one had caught his attention like Edward had last night, and he had never experienced such strong feelings from a mere kiss. He wanted to take Edward somewhere where the two could talk and get to know each other more, so that excluded theatre too, another one of his key haunts for dates.

Roy was so wrapped up in his own musings that he didn't notice the woman until he had bumped into her. She was startled, but not enough to lose her footing or drop anything. Being in the military for years sharpened her reflexes.

'I'm sorry,' Roy apologised quickly 'My mind was elsewhere.'

The woman looked up at him and smiled. 'Quite alright General,' she mused, her blonde hair loose around her shoulders.

'Hello Riza,' Roy smiled gently. He looked down to see Black Hayate by her side, and crouched down to scratch him behind his ears.

'Roy,' she replied, dropping the formalities and smiling craftily. 'You left us in the lurch the other day, both yourself and Fullmetal taking unscheduled time off. I also heard that you snuck out not long after I left to go on a date the night before.'

'Ah…' Roy began, floored. He had forgotten all about that in his excitement over his date with Edward. He hurried to make an excuse. 'I hardly think that's relevant, considering that I got all the work done,' he replied smoothly.

'While that is true, we barely got anything done yesterday with the both of you off. Monday morning is going to be especially hectic. Not only do you have work to catch up on, but its rumoured we have an inspection from the Fuhrer,' Hawkeye explained, relaying the information that she had learned from her sources.

'An inspection?' Roy raised his eyebrows. Haruko had been watching him like a hawk for sometime now, having suspicions over his involvement in the death of the previous Fuhrer. That infernal man was forever trying to catch Roy out, trying to find a shred of evidence to prove that he was after the job of Fuhrer and had already killed once in an attempt to take the position for himself. Roy was lucky to have loyal subordinates looking out for him. 'I'll be in earlier Monday morning to make sure everything is in order,' Roy proclaimed, 'and make sure the others are aware of the inspection. I want everyone on their best behaviour.'

'Speak for yourself sir,' Hawkeye bit back jokingly. 'Breda says that you and Edward stole a bottle of scotch that he kept hidden under his desk, though if that's the case then I must say I'm surprised that you didn't destroy the office.'

'We got our work done. We were too tired to fight.' Roy admitted, his eyes brightening at the mention on Edward. Riza couldn't help but notice and filed that information away for future reference.

'Yes, you did.' Riza admitted, and then changing the subject asked 'What were you thinking about when you bumped into me?'

Roy thought for a moment. Riza Hawkeye was one of his closest friends. Roy already knew her to be a good confidant, and she may have some useful perspectives on romance to help him along his way to arranging the perfect date.

'Have you got time for a coffee?' Roy asked, indicating to a nearby café. He was sure she would need to sit down for this.

'Sure, why not?' she replied, looking at her watch. She had nothing of note to be doing, and lately the office dynamic had been a little off. Perhaps what Roy had on his mind was somehow related to this, and perhaps she would establish the meaning behind the gleam in his eyes when she had mentioned Edwards name.

* * *

The Elric brothers had arrived at the station just in time to see the train arriving . Luckily for the brothers, it had been delayed by ten minutes, and Edward opted for leaning casually against the nearest wall, acting as if he had been waiting there all the time. Al couldn't argue with that approach, as long as Winry didn't know that the brothers had also been late, there would be no problem and no one would get hurt. Al stood next to his brother wringing his hands nervously in anticipation. He couldn't wait to see Winry again, especially now, knowing that his brother had never had any romantic intentions towards her. Al looked over as the train doors opened, and watched for Winry amongst all the travellers. Spotting her behind a group of children travelling with their parents, Al began to weave his way through the crowd towards her. Ed followed from a distance, knowing that this trip would turn into a shopping trip.

'Ed! Al!' Winry called, and upon reaching Al pulled him into a hug. 'I missed you both!'

'We missed you too Winry,' Al murmured against her hair, content to be in her embrace. Edward smirked knowingly.

When they broke apart, Winry turned to Ed, looking him over for a second as if trying to determine that his automail was in good condition. She smiled and stepped forward. Ed wondered for a split second if he should be stepping back, before Winry hugged him.

'Its good to see you Ed,' Winry said, pulling away. 'Are you ready to take me shopping?'

'Shopping?' Ed groaned half heartedly, having already expected this to be the plan for the day. The expectation however did not stop his lament over the state his finances would be in after today. Perhaps he could get out of it…

'Yes, Al promised you would both take me shopping today, and he even said you would buy me anything I liked! Didn't he tell you?' Winry demanded, turning on Al. 'I'm sure I told you when I called last night!'

'I got a little distracted,' Al told her grinning. 'Brother came home from his date and I wanted to know all the details!'

'You had a date Edward?' Winry asked, shocked, before grinning evilly and prodding his chest with her wrench, which she seemed to have procured out of nowhere. 'You better tell me ALL the details then!'

Ed groaned, and Al looked on sympathetically. Winry could be quite the forceful interrogator when she wanted to be.

Trying to save his brother momentarily, Al interjected, linking arms with them both 'Lets go into town before the weather turns bad, I'm sure Ed will be more than happy to tell you on the way.'

'That's fine!' Winry agreed, distracted by the feel of Al's arm brushing against her own. 'I'm more than able to talk whilst we're walking!'

'Great!' Ed groaned sarcastically, starting for the exit to the train station, preparing himself for the longest day of his life.

* * *

Roy and Riza found a small table outside the café, and sat down opposite each other, ordering a coffee each. When the coffee arrived, Riza sipped hers thoughtfully, thinking on how to broach the topic of her superior and friends obvious absentmindedness. She was broken out of her reverie when Roy spoke himself, negating the need for herself to start the conversation.

'I've met someone,' Roy began carefully, setting his cup down and looking into Riza's startled gaze, a little apprehensive, but slightly pleased with himself. Riza Hawkeye was not an easy person to shock.

'You met someone?' she asked, hoping he would clarify.

'I had a date last night with someone new. I never expected it to happen, but I found myself enjoying their company.' Roy elaborated, knowing his friend would understand the implication of his words. After all, it was rare for him to be serious about someone.

'Are you going out again?' Riza asked, leaning forward in her chair and resting her face in her hands, bemused. This was interesting, and a rare thing indeed.

'Yes.' Roy answered. 'I couldn't resist asking for a second date.'

'Then what did you seem worried about earlier? You were awfully distracted.' Riza pointed out.

'I'm…nervous,' Roy admitted, hiding behind a sip of coffee. 'I want to make this second date different to show that I'm serious about him.'

'Perhaps you could cook a meal for him?' Riza suggested, putting two and two together and guessing that Roy Mustang was seeing Edward Elric. 'Edward is rather fond of food after all.'

She saw Roy's face quickly drain of colour. How on earth did she figure it out already? Roy sighed, knowing he really should have expected it from her. Her perceptive nature was one of the many reasons he kept her close to him as one of his most loyal subordinates.

'I can't very well learn to cook overnight can I?' Roy mused aloud, not denying her accusation. 'I'm seeing him tomorrow.'

'Perhaps another time then,' she smiled. 'I'm not opposed. It certainly explains his strange behaviour and your glazed look at the mention of his name.'

'Perceptive as always,' Roy smiled, then turned serious and asked 'What should I do?'

'Its important that you treat him seriously and don't lead him on. I hear tomorrow is going to be a nice day, perhaps you could take him for a picnic in the park by the river? Edward always struck me as an outdoors type,' Riza commented.

'That isn't a bad idea,' Roy mused, finishing his coffee. He would need to buy a few things to make this idea work, but he had all afternoon to prepare. 'And believe me, I understand how badly this could affect our working relationship if I led him on in any way. I rather… enjoyed his company.'

Riza looked at him for a moment before nodding. 'You two always did appear similar. I hope tomorrow goes well for you.'

'I hope so too,' Roy agreed, his attention distracted as Black Hayate began to whine, irritated at being ignored for so long and having his walk disrupted.

'I had better go,' Riza mused, looking down at her dog. 'Good luck!' she wished, leaving Roy sitting alone at the table. With a sigh, Roy stood, and began to gather a mental list of everything he would need for tomorrows date.

* * *

Edward was glad for Al's crush on Winry, for inevitably Winry had bought an awful lot of new tools, and his brother had offered to carry everything for her. They were now resuming shopping after a quick lunch in a nearby park, where Ed had felt calmed by the river. It would be a nice place to spend with someone you cared about, he had thought, as he watched Al and Winry strolling over to get ice creams, arm in arm. Now, as they walked through the decreasing crowds of the afternoon, Ed was wondering if his brother had asked Winry out yet. Al had already offered to give up his room for her and sleep on the couch while she was staying. Edward was pleased that he did not have to give up his own room this time. The last time he had the couch Winry had teased him for weeks when, on a trip to the kitchen in the middle of the night, she had overheard him moaning Roy's name in his sleep. He had at first been surprised that she wasn't angry, since he had long suspected Winry had a crush on him. But Winry had calmly explained that it had always been his brother she had liked romantically, and that she thought of Edward as her brother. Then she had proceeded to tease him mercilessly for his crush on his commanding officer who he had always acted like he hated. She had never judged him for it, and had probably assumed by now that his crush had passed.

'Brother look! It's the General!' Al pointed out, as they were walking along the street opposite the bakery. Roy was approaching them briskly, smiling gently, looking very much like he had rolled out of bed that morning and walked straight out of the house. To Edward he looked sexy when his hair was dishevelled that way.

'Hello Fullmetal, Winry, Alphonse,' he greeted when he was within hearing range. 'May I have a word with you in private Edward? Military business you understand,' he added, nodding to the other two, glad that he had chanced upon Edward this afternoon.

'Of course,' Ed answered, trying to appear professional. 'I'll meet you back at the flat Al, ok?'

'Sure brother,' Al answered, knowing Winry still felt a little weird being around Mustang. He whispered quietly so only Ed could hear, 'Try not to fight with the General too much brother.'

Ed rolled his eyes and pouted. Roy thought he looked unbearably cute like that, and smiled a little. 'We won't fight!' Ed insisted loudly, shooing his brother away with his automail hand, smiling slightly at his brothers ignorance. He would have to tell Al he was dating Mustang someday, if anything just to see the look on his brothers face.

Al rolled his eyes at his brother, before linking arms with Winry and turning to walk away. Winry looked curiously at Ed, then at Roy, before shaking her head at the pair of them and turning to leave with Alphonse. When the pair had merged with the crowds, Ed turned to Roy.

'So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?' Edward asked, curiously, looking up at Roy.

'Actually what I told your brother wasn't too far from the truth,' Roy admitted, looking around to make sure that they would not be overheard. 'Riza has informed me of an inspection taking place on Monday by the Fuhrer. It seems he is suspicious of me.'

'An inspection?' Ed asked curiously, as they started to walk in the opposite direction Alphonse and Winry had just left in.

'Yes, and I hate to ask this of you, but I need you to be on your best behaviour.' Roy did not want Ed to repress his lively personality, and knew Edward would hate his next request even more, but he had no choice. 'I'll need you to wear your proper uniform to work Monday.'

Ed grimaced and make a face of disgust that made Roy chuckle lightly. Ed heard him and directed a half hearted glare at Roy before giving a sigh of resignation. 'I suppose its just one day,' he said running his hand through his hair in exasperation. 'Don't worry, I'll be on my best behaviour. I wouldn't want you to lose your job.'

'Thank you,' Roy replied, surprised again by the maturity Edward was showing. 'I'm not keen on losing my job either.'

'So what's in the bag?' Ed asked, his curiosity getting the better of him as he tried to sneak a peek.

Roy moved the bag behind his back and away from the nosy alchemist quickly. 'Just a few things for tomorrow,' he said winking at Ed. 'I need to change the time though, to five rather than seven, I have something slightly different planned.'

'That's no problem,' Ed replied, very curious about the contents of the bag now. 'I'm sure Al will be pleased to get rid of me earlier so that he has some time alone with Winry. What should I wear?'

'Just dress casual,' Roy decided, smiling at Ed's curiosity toward the bag.

'Casual, got it,' Ed replied, as they stopped walking. 'I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?'

'Yes, I'll call for you around 5pm,' Roy agreed, looking forward to what he had planned and hoping Edward would like it.

They parted reluctantly, each glancing back to look at the other before Edward waved and turned to jog in the direction that Al and Winry had left in. Roy smiled and concentrated on making his own way home to complete his preparations for tomorrows date.

* * *

It was the next evening and Edward was waiting impatiently for Roy to pick him up. He had spent the time since he saw Roy last trying to fathom just what the man had planned. Roy thought that he hadn't seen into that bag, but Ed had glimpsed a couple of interesting things before Roy had yanked the bag away and out of sight behind his back. This did not make him any closer to knowing what Roy had planned though, for all he had glimpsed were food bags buried under a blanket. This had piqued Edward's curiosity, and the waiting was torture. Normally when Ed was curious about something, he could find the answers in the library, but this was a different matter entirely.

Ed had taken Roy's advice to dress casually and had opted for wearing his usual black leather pants and a red button up shirt that he had borrowed from his brother. He had pulled his hair back into a braid and, at Winry's suggestion, tied it with a red ribbon which he felt looked ridiculous but Winry insisted looked cute. Edward had felt arguing wasn't worth the inevitable wrench to his head, so agreed half heartedly.

Speaking of Winry, she and Al had been incessantly nagging him to introduce them to his date tonight. He was a little apprehensive about that at first, but had since decided that seeing the shocked looks from Al and the surprise from Winry would definitely be worthwhile, so if Roy came to the door, Ed would oblige them. If not, they could spy out of the window just like Alphonse had attempted to do the last time.

Edward was startled out of his reminiscence by a sharp rap at the door and a scrabbling from the next room as both Alphonse and Winry attempted to answer it. Ed sighed and joined the fray, shoving his brother away from the door and grabbing the handle to stop him from opening it. Composing himself for a second or two, Ed paused dramatically before swinging open the door.

The look on his brother and friends face was priceless. Al blinked, stared, and shook his head a few times as if in disbelief of what he was seeing. Roy looked startled briefly before regaining his composure. Winry just looked bemused, and somewhat knowingly at Ed.

'You're dating the General?' Al exclaimed, eyes wide in disbelief and shock.

'Yes,' Ed replied carefully as he stepped through the door and away from Al to stand beside Roy, who inclined his head to kiss Edward tenderly on the cheek and slip an arm around the young mans waist.

'I'm really surprised,' Al began hesitantly, knowing how much Edward always complained about the man in front of them. Then, remembering his conversation with his brother the night before and how happy Ed had seemed, continued more confidently, 'I'll admit I'm shocked, but I can accept this if its what you want brother.'

'I'm not surprised Ed,' Winry added smirking, and Ed silently willed her not to mention his dreams. 'Don't worry, I'll support you too.'

'Thanks,' Ed nodded to them, before turning to face Roy 'Shall we go then?'

'Yes, lets go,' Roy agreed, and nodded to Winry and Alphonse as he walked with Edward away from the apartment.

'Well that was surprising,' Al muttered, as he shut and locked the door. 'Who would have thought that those two actually liked each other?'

'Actually Al, I knew a while back that Ed liked the General,' Winry commented, grabbing a glass of juice from the kitchen.

'You knew?' Al asked incredulously, taking a seat at the kitchen table opposite Winry. 'Why would brother tell you and not me?'

'He had no choice,' Winry assured Al, and began to relay in detail the story of her discovery of Edwards crush on his commanding officer.

* * *

Central was generally deserted on Sunday evenings, and tonight was no different, Roy was sure that no one of consequence was around to witness any affection between himself and Edward so he left his arm at the blondes waist as they made their way down the street. They would have to be a little careful, at least until he became Fuhrer. Roy had slowed his own pace slightly so that Edward would not struggle to keep up with him. Shortly after leaving the house Ed's arm had come to rest around Roy's waist and his head was almost resting on Roy's shoulder. It was a mild summer night, and the sun had yet to set. The weather couldn't have been more perfect.

'You're brother and Winry took us fairly well,' Roy commented as they walked along the street.

Ed nodded slightly. 'Especially Al. I thought he would have tried to knock some sense into me given that…well...' Ed faltered, not sure if mentioning all the complaining he did about Roy to the man was the best idea in the world.

'Given what?' Roy asked, curious

'How much I used to complain about you,' Ed sighed, deciding that he may as well be honest and that he would rather be open with Roy.

Roy smiled a little for he knew it to be true. Edward had complained about him from the beginning. Shaking his head in amusement, he supplied helpfully, 'I know all about that. You're so loud the entire office can hear you complain.'

'Really?' Ed had the decency to blush a little. 'You know I didn't mean it right? Well.. Most of it. Sometimes you can be a real jerk!'

Roy laughed ' A jerk who agreed to take you to dinner, paid for it, and always has your best interests at heart?'

'You had a strange way of showing it,' Ed murmured thoughtfully and added ' You really looked out for me though.'

'Always,' Roy confirmed, stopping and pulling Ed around to face him and placing a tender kiss on his lips. 'I think part of me was always aware that I cared for you.'

'That's the cheesiest thing I've ever heard,' Ed grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest, however Roy could make out the shadow of a smile on the young mans face.

They walked along in silence a little further, Roy hoping that Edward would like the date he had planned and Edward contemplating Roy's words. Ed was the first to break the silence.

'You know I care about you too right?' Ed asked, turning to Roy and adding 'This isn't some crush. I really do like you.'

Roy turned to Ed to look him in the eyes and was drawn in by the intensity of the blondes gaze. Edwards eyes were sparkling with honesty and determination. He was telling the truth, of that Roy had no doubt.

'I know,' Roy whispered as he pulled Edward into an embrace. 'I really like you too, and I would never have taken you out again tonight if I didn't. I enjoy your company.'

Ed revelled in the feeling of Roy's arms around him, embracing the man back and lifting his head to look into Roy's eyes. 'Shall we get going then?'

Roy nodded, and they continued down the street.

'So where are we going?' Ed asked, relieved and happy as he walked beside Roy.

'To the park actually,' Roy revealed, a little nervously. 'I wanted to do something different, so I got us some food to eat by the river.'

'Sounds nice,' Edward admitted, surprised at Roy's choice of date, but intrigued by the idea of eating alone with Roy in the park. It seemed somewhat romantic, and he had even been thinking so earlier. Looking up, Ed spotted the entrance to the park and exclaimed enthusiastically, 'Lets find a place to eat! I'm hungry!'

'Sure,' Roy agreed, as they began to scout along the riverbank for a suitable spot. Roy was glad that Edward seemed to approve of his idea, and was pleased to see that the park was just as deserted as he had hoped. They came upon a sheltered spot underneath an oak tree that stood in the evening sunlight overlooking the river. Retrieving a blanket from his bag and spreading it under the tree, Roy removed his jacket and settled against the tree trunk. Edward discarded his own jacket and sat beside Roy who was pulling food out of his bag. Edward grinned and tried to grab some food bags to see what was inside, but Roy slapped his hands away playfully.

'Patience Edward,' Roy scolded, pressing his mouth against Ed's and slipping his tongue in for a taste. Edward moaned into the kiss, competing with Roy for dominance before his stomach growled and he came to his senses and pushed Roy away gently.

'Plenty of time for that later. Right now I'm hungry!' Ed demanded, looking towards the food. When he got no response, he looked back at Roy who was looking a little downcast.

'Patience Roy,' Ed grinned, knowing that the man was used to getting his own way on dates. He leaned over and gave Roy a lingering kiss, and slipped his arm around him, looking at him expectantly. Roy sighed dramatically and took the hint, getting out the food and wondering what had happened to his irresistibleness.

'I know you'll eat anything, but I took the liberty of ordering noodles, since I heard you're fond of those,' Roy explained. He knew his source was a good one. It was rare that his first lieutenant got her facts wrong.

Ed examined the food carefully before grabbing a container and a plastic fork.

'Looks great!' he contemplated, sniffing at the food, 'Smells great,' he added, getting a forkful to taste 'And tastes great!' he concluded through his mouthful.

Roy laughed. It seemed Edward was scientific about everything he did. He hoped his own cooking could live up to Edwards standards if the blonde agreed to see him again Friday. Normally, Roy preferred takeout. He was a hopeless cook, except when it came to barbeque.

They ate quickly and silently, content for the moment to enjoy the food and the closeness that they shared, each revelling in the warmth of the other. Edward was the first to finish eating, and stretched his arms above his head, yawning, as he let his arm fall down over Roy's shoulders. Roy smiled and leaned over to kiss Ed's forehead, then finished his own food and basked in the comfortable silence, wondering how with Edward, this seemed so easy, so right, compared to any other dates he had been on.

'Did you bring dessert?' Ed asked curiously, breaking Roy out of his reverie, and leaning over Roy to try and nose through the bag.

'You know, you eat an awful lot for someone so small,' Roy teased, and grinned as Ed stopped trying to reach the bag and glared at him.

'I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that,' Ed bit out, controlling himself. He didn't look particularly menacing leaning over Roy like that anyway. Roy thought he looked stunning.

Roy laughed, and decided to have a little fun. 'So you're a deaf midget then?' he teased, watching and waiting for Edward's reaction.

Edward growled and got to his feet. 'You asked for it!' he exclaimed, bringing his hands together to clap as he moved menacingly towards Roy, flinging himself towards the man.

Roy was up and on his feet in a flash, almost expecting this and dodging to the side, hoping he had remembered his gloves. He smirked in triumph as he dug into his pocket and felt the familiar ignition cloth. Pulling out the gloves, he fitted them to his hands and turned with the intention of sending a fireball hurtling towards Edward, only to realise that he did not know where the blonde alchemist was. Turning slowly and cautiously in a circle, Roy scanned the area with his eyes as he tried to determine Edwards whereabouts.

Ed meanwhile was trying to sneak up on Roy from behind, calculating the distance and wondering if he could catch the man unawares. Deciding that his chances were high if he moved fast enough, Edward darted out from under the cover of the hedge he was hiding behind, and made a dash towards Roy, who had his back turned.

Roy was beginning to turn to search the area again, when he found himself barrelled over by a blur of red and blonde. They fell to the soft grass in a tangle of limbs, and struggled for a brief moment to determine who had the upper hand, before Ed grinned triumphantly and pinned Roy to the ground. Roy stared up at him, and was captivated by his golden eyes.

'Take it back!' Ed growled, menacingly, although the twinkling of his eyes betrayed his amusement.

'Why should I?' Roy argued, amused. The blonde was stronger than he appeared.

Ed seemed to contemplate this for a moment, before grinning, and reaching his hands to Roy's sides and beginning to tickle him mercilessly. Roy struggled, and began to laugh, trying to dislodge the blonde above him, however Edward was not giving up that easily, and his automail made pinning Roy down easy. Roy couldn't help himself as he burst out laughing, and, still failing to dislodge Edward, cried out through his laughter 'Get off, get off!'

'Do you surrender?' Ed asked gleefully.

Roy thought about it for a moment, and then, as Edward moved to resume his attack, called out 'Fine, fine, I surrender!'

'Good,' Ed nodded, as he got up and offered his hand to Roy. Roy pulled himself up and pulled Edward into an embrace, whispering seductively into the blonde's ear.

'If you were an inch taller you wouldn't fit into my arms so well.'

Ed blushed, looking up into Roy's eyes as they linked arms and began to head back to the blanket. 'You really are a hopeless romantic,' he grinned and added, 'and a tease.'

'Somehow, I can't help it when I'm around you.' Roy murmured thoughtfully. 'Am I forgiven?'

'Of course.' Ed concluded as they arrived back at their picnic spot. 'I want to see if you actually did bring dessert!'

They sat themselves down together and Roy leaned his head on the shorter mans shoulder, panting, slightly breathless. He had made out in this park, he had even fumbled in this park, but never had be been chased around it and tickled into submission. Leaning over to kiss Ed's cheek, and gently nuzzle his nose into Ed's hair, Roy breathed a deep sigh.

'I really enjoyed that,' Roy admitted, moving his mouth down to kiss Ed's neck.

'Me too,' Ed agreed, ruffling Roy's hair tenderly and snuggling closer to the man.

They stayed that way for a few moments, before Edward remembered suddenly that they still hadn't had any dessert. Ed nudged Roy gently with his elbow to get the mans attention and Roy looked up at him questioningly.

'Where's dessert?' Edward asked in answer to Roy's unspoken question.

Roy shook his head and reached over into the bags that had lain forgotten during the chase through the park. 'Right here!' he announced triumphantly as he pulled out some strawberries, a bottle of red wine, and two glasses from the bag.

'Good enough?' Roy asked, as he opened the bottle and poured them both a glass.

Edward picked up his glass and sniffed it cautiously, before taking a sip. The wine was light and fruity and rather to his taste he concluded. 'Its nice.' he admitted.

Roy removed his gloves and offered Edward a strawberry, watching transfixed as Edward took a bite, his lips grazing Roy's fingers as he opted to eat out of the mans hand, rather than taking it in his own. Roy was left with the stalk, and a tingling feeling in his stomach. Ed looked amused, and helped himself to another strawberry, eating slowly and deliberately, licking his lips slowly when he was done, watching for Roy's reaction. The next strawberry he offered to Roy, who felt a little silly eating out of Edward's hand, but did so anyway. They ate slowly, teasing each other, and, when there was no more, sat looking over the river, which sparkled in the low sunlight.

As the sun began to set, Roy leaned his head on Edwards again, and slipped an arm around his shoulders, as they watched the sun set below the skyline of Central city.

'Would you like to come to my house on Friday night?' Roy asked.

Edward contemplated the offer for a moment, then looked up at Roy and smiled. 'I'd like that,' he replied, and asked cheekily 'Are you cooking then, Flame?'

'Yes, I am,' Roy admitted. 'Don't worry, it won't be THAT bad,' Roy added, seeing the look on Edward's face, and hoping that Riza would be a good teacher.

'I'll just come over after work then,' Edward mused, huddling closer to Roy as the sun descended completely, and the temperature began to drop. He was beginning to look forward to Friday. They did have to make it through the inspection first however, but that thought was far from their minds for the moment.


End file.
